Report Shows Nearly 40 Percent of Ontario Food Banks Limiting Supplies Due to High Demand
Nearly 40 percent of Ontario food banks report that they have had to decrease the amount of food they distribute to users due to a second consecutive year of unprecedented demand, as outlined in a recent report.
“Being one of the last resort supports before homelessness, we must prevent food banks from deteriorating.”
Feed Ontario, representing a network of over 1,200 food banks and hunger relief organizations in Ontario, disclosed that more than one million individuals, or one in 16 Ontarians, utilized a food bank in 2023. With a 73 percent increase in unique individuals accessing food banks in the last two years, the organization anticipates a further 24 percent surge in demand by 2025.
During the pandemic from 2019 to 2021, there was an 8 percent rise in unique individuals using food banks in Ontario, alongside a 32 percent increase in overall visits to these food banks. However, between 2022 and 2023, the number of unique individuals spiked by 73 percent, and visits surged by 78 percent.
Feed Ontario cautioned about a widening gap between the demand for support and the available resources for food banks in recent years, with Ontarians struggling to donate as much as before.
“Other than food banks, there are limited options to fill this ‘void,’ as they cannot levy taxes like governments or increase prices like businesses,” highlighted the report, pointing out the unforeseen sharp rise occurring currently.