Amid soaring demand for help at food banks, Northumberland County is calling on the community to join in the fight against food insecurity with its “30 Ways in 30 Days” Hunger Action Month initiative.
“Food banks across the province are experiencing record-breaking increases in use,” said Lisa Horne, the county’s community and social services director. “Between April of 2022 and March of 2023, 800,822 adults and children accessed food banks over 5.88 million times in Ontario.
“Locally, in 2023, over 5,000 residents made over 74,000 visits to food banks in Northumberland,” added Horne. “This indicates a 32 per cent increase in use compared to 2022, underscoring the importance of initiatives like Hunger Action Month to raise awareness and galvanize support for community services addressing this issue.”
The 30-day challenge this September is a call to residents to participate with small actions throughout the month to help support local food banks and food security programs, while also reducing food waste, explained the county.
At the national level, Food Banks Canada supports food banks and raises awareness about food bank usage in Canada. Provincially, this work is carried out by Feed Ontario, noted the county.
Feed Ontario’s 2023 “Hunger Report” provides an analysis of data gathered by the Ontario food bank network between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023. It was published in November 2023 and detailed several reasons “why Ontarians can’t get ahead.”
Among some of its highlights, the report indicates food bank use remains at an all-time high, with last year marking the seventh consecutive year of food bank use increases.
What’s more, the reference above to 800,822 adults and children accessing food banks represents an increase of 38 per cent over the previous year and 60 per cent over pre-pandemic levels. Further, the 5.88 million visits throughout the year represents a jump of 36 per cent over the year prior and a 101 per cent spike over pre-pandemic levels, reported Feed Ontario.
In Northumberland, the County’s Food 4 All Warehouse, along with 12 local food banks, provide food supports to individuals and champion national and provincial initiatives across area communities. Hunger Action Month aims to support these vital programs, while raising awareness of food insecurity and advocating for an end to hunger and poverty in Canada, explained the county.
Hunger Action Month is official in Northumberland, with a proclamation made by the county council earlier in August.
Annually, the initiative serves as a call to the community as organizations come together to highlight issues contributing to food insecurity and encourage people to take action.
A simple way to get involved is by reading Northumberland County’s 2024 Feed Change Report.
To participate in the “30 Ways in 30 Days” challenge, residents are encouraged to tackle one action daily to support food security in Northumberland.
To participate, you can download the calendar on the county’s website or follow the Northumberland County Food 4 All Facebook page (@NCFood4All) for daily reminders of how you can support Hunger Action Month. Online here, people can also help spread the word about food security as the Food 4 All team shares Hunger Action Month content through September.
People can also visit and share the FoodHelpNorthumberland.
For more information about Hunger Action Month and how to get involved, visit Norhtumberland.ca/
According to Feed Ontario, some of the latest trends in food banking include one in 19 Ontarians relying on a food bank.
Two-in-five people visiting a food bank are also doing so for the first time — another 41 per cent jump over the previous year.
And one-in-four food banks experienced a growth of 40 per cent or greater in unique visitors.
Drivers of usage in the report touch on everything from the rising cost of living, to high inflation rates and soaring housing costs, to insufficient social support programs, and longstanding income insecurity issues “driven by poor public policies.”
(Written by: Sarah Hyatt)
