What would you do to bring an end to hunger?

Hunger has become a reality for too many Canadians. No Canadian should go hungry. -Food Banks Canada.

June 1 is Hunger Awareness Day in Canada. It is a wake-up call to the need to address hunger in Canada and around the world.

Food Banks Canada estimates that approximately 2.7 million Canadians struggle to get enough food to eat. Many of these people make sacrifices and go without quite enough food, while others rely on food banks every month. According to the annual Hungercount report from 2009, 794,738 Canadians used a food bank in March 2009.

Peaking in March 2004 with over 840,000 people using a food bank, the numbers slowly decreased to just over 700,000 by March 2008. But tough economic times drove the numbers up 18% in just one year to just under 800,000 in March 2009 with about 37% of food bank users being children, and 9% of the total number being first time clients. Most of the gains made in those four years were lost in just one. When hardship hits, numbers at food banks go up, and this will likely continue unless action is taken to address the roots of hunger.

Food banks were designed for emergency use, but they continue to be busy. Based on surveys taken of food bank users over the last 10 years, wages and government programs like social assistance and Employment Insurance are often insufficient to cover expenses like food. About 50-60% of food bank users counted social assistance as their primary income, 13-15% counted working wages as the primary source, while 3-6% counted EI.

So, what can we do to really address this problem –to get to the root and bring an end to hunger in Canada? What would you do?

These are the questions Food Banks Canada is asking this year. They are asking for our ideas on what needs to be done to bring an end to hunger in Canada once and for all. Check out this year’s Hunger Awareness Day website to send in your comments or suggestions. Also check out the petition calling for government action to address the root of hunger – poverty –and create lasting change through a national anti-poverty plan, better and fairer EI coverage, and support for families with children.

Finally, through the website find out how to host and register your own event for Hunger Awareness Day, download Food Banks Canada’s toolkit for the day, and find out what other groups are doing across the country to mark the day.