Amid Canada’s cost-of-living crisis, high inflation, and unaffordable housing market, Hamilton food banks have seen donations drop significantly, putting them in a precarious position. Photo Credit: Hamilton Food Share.
Amid Canada’s cost-of-living crisis, high inflation, and unaffordable housing market, Hamilton food banks have seen donations drop significantly, putting them in a precarious position.
As a result, a group of 16 local emergency food agencies, which calls itself the Emergency Food Strategic Planning Committee, submitted an official request to the City of Hamilton for $1.25 million in annual funding going forward.
The request is being considered as part of the 2024 budget process.
The 16 organizations operate 23 different hunger-relief programs, including emergency food banks and hot meal programs, throughout the Greater Hamilton Area.
Data from the committee was recently shared with Hamilton councillors and outlines just how dire the situation is in the city.
The majority of the data presented was from March 2023.
The document outlines that there was a 43 per cent increase in the number of food banks visits in March 2023 compared to March 2022.
In March 2023 there were 33,534 food bank visits compared to 23,440 in March 2022.
Making up those visits, there were 17,554 individuals who relied on food banks during March 2023.
The committee also notes that a key reason why households rely on emergency food banks is so that “they can pay their rent.”
In March 2022, there were reportedly 1,841 households visiting food banks who were paying more than 50 per cent of their total income on rent.
Meanwhile, in March 2023, that number increased to 2,621 households spending more than 50 per cent of their total income on rent, which puts them “at extreme risk of homelessness,” according to the presentation.
Furthermore, data indicates that community food donations city-wide have decreased by about 75 per cent.
During the 2019-20 fiscal year, 328,297 pounds of food were donated to Hamilton Food Share.
That number dropped to 132,764 pounds in the 2020-21 fiscal year, before decreasing further in 2021-22 to 109,972 pounds, and going even lower to only 83,529 pounds donated in 2022-23.
As a result, the report notes that all of the local agencies providing emergency food services have had to “pivot to purchasing food.”
For example, at Hamilton Food Share, food purchasing has grown from $193,326 in 2019 to $1.4 million in 2023, a rise of 624 per cent.
As a result, these organizations have also had to increase their food transportation capacity, staff, and storage capacity, meaning that they are requiring even more resources than before.
The report also breaks down the funding request that the committee is asking of the city.
The $1.25 million requested in annual funding beginning in 2024 would be given to Hamilton Food Share who would “hold the funding contract with the city, reporting annually on the disbursement and impact of the funding.”
Half of the funding, or $625,000, would be dedicated to food purchasing by the Hamilton Food Share and Priority Food Program.
The other half would be provided to other agencies by Hamilton Food Share “by way of grants to cover staffing and infrastructure expenses.”
Hamilton Food Share has already served as the “central hub for emergency food shipping and receiving” in the City of Hamilton for the past three decades.
They also manage a client intake database which allows them to further analyze needs.
Hamilton Council also gave food banks $625,000 in emergency funding at the end of October.
The 16 organizations that make up the Emergency Food Strategic Planning Committee are: Ancaster Community Services, De Mazenod Door Outreach, Eva Rothwell Centre, Flamborough Food Bank, Good Shepherd Centre, Hamilton Jewish Family Services, Living Rock Ministries, Mishka Social Services, Mission Services of Hamilton, The Native Women’s Centre, Neighbour to Neighbour Centre, Niwasa Kendaaswin Teg, The Salvation Army, Stoney Creek Community Food Bank, Wesley Urban Ministries, and Welcome Inn Community Centre.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
