Hunger, poverty and the economic downturn

On Tuesday Food Banks Canada released their annual report, Hungercount 2009, on food bank usage across the country. The report revealed that almost 800,000 individuals used a food bank during March 2009. This is an increase of 18% from March 2008, the biggest year-by-year national increase (by almost 10%) ever recorded by Food Banks Canada!

For over a decade, Food Banks Canada has been keeping track of the number of people using food banks during one month out of every year. Numbers of food bank use peaked in 2004 with over 840,000 people served, but since then usage has been gradually declining- that is until this year.

Alberta had, by far, the largest increase (61%) with Nova Scotia and Ontario coming in second and third at 20% and 18% respectively. Overall seven provinces recorded double-digit increases.

The demographics of food bank users have not changed drastically. About 40% of users were under the age of 18, which is fairly consistent with demographics from the past 10 years. But with the increase in total users, the total number of children using food banks has also increased greatly. In any case, the fact that 40% of food bank users are children in any given year should be a major cause for concern!

Executive director of Food Banks Canada, Katherine Schmidt, and others are blaming much of this drastic increase on the recent economic downturn. The unemployment and underemployment brought on by the recession are major factors.

In addition, the types of jobs being created often come with lower wages and fewer benefits. For example, jobs in the manufacturing sector are on the decline, while jobs in the retail and food service industries are rising. A typical manufacturing salary can be up to one third to almost 50% bigger than jobs in the retail sector, not to mention the benefits that go along with many manufacturing jobs.

Food Banks Canada also recognizes the connection between the increasing need for food banks and other costs of living within Canada. These issues include wages and working income tax benefits, employment insurance, affordable housing, child care and child tax benefits, and more. All of these issues are tied to the ongoing problems of poverty and hunger in Canada.

In order to address these concerns, Food Banks Canada has put forward several recommendations to individuals, businesses and all levels of government. These recommendations call for a well organized and widely encompassing plan for poverty reduction.

Several provinces, including Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and most recently New Brunswick (announced last week) have in place, or are in the process of implementing, poverty reduction strategies. But the provinces need the support of the federal government, both for the provincial plans as well as an overall federal strategy.

Hunger and poverty are major concerns across Canada. Will the federal government, along with other levels of government, corporations and individuals, take definitive action, as part of our full recovery from this recession, to reduce and eventually eliminate poverty?