No doubt you’ve experienced some sticker shock at the grocery store recently — according to new data released in October by Statistics Canada, food inflation has soared to a 41-year high in Canada. Grocery prices just keep climbing, rising by 11.4 per cent year-over-year, while hourly wages rose by only 5.2 per cent. And when you combine the increasing inflation with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s not surprising that more Canadians are facing food insecurity than ever before.
According to the Canada’s Invisible Food Network report released by Second Harvest, 6.7 million Canadians relied on food charities in 2021. That’s equal to 18% of Canadians, or roughly the population of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan combined.
Here in Toronto, there were 1.45 million visits to Toronto food banks in the last year — the highest number of visits ever recorded in the city — according to the Who’s Hungry report prepared by the Daily Bread Food Bank and North York Harvest. Perhaps the most sobering statistic is that for the first time ever, new clients outnumbered existing clients at Toronto food banks with a 61 per cent increase compared to the year prior.
At Nellie’s, we’ve seen the demand for our food program continue to grow throughout the pandemic. In fact, the need has been so great that despite having to temporarily suspend many of our community programs due to the pandemic, we never closed the doors on our food program. Between 60 to 80 women and families apick up food from our food program every single week, from seniors living below the poverty line, to single moms trying to make ends meet, to women with disabilities who face economic and social exclusion. Some of these women have lived in our shelter, but many others simply live in our community and come to us for help.
Our food program depends on donations from our community, as well as support from our friends at Second Harvest. Every Tuesday morning, the food rescue charity makes a weekly delivery of fresh, frozen, and packaged foods. We never know exactly what we’ll get each week, so we call our food program “Supper Surprise”. From week to week, we fill food baskets with everything from pasta and rice, to fresh fruit and vegetables, to peanut butter and milk. We round out each food basket with stock from our own non-perishable food pantry to ensure that each family receives a healthy mix of protein, canned and boxed goods, and fruits and vegetables.
It’s because of generous donors like you that we’re able to keep that pantry stocked and ready to support our community. Our need for non-perishable food donations continues to grow as the increasing demand persists. Kids’ snacks and cereals are always incredibly helpful to the families who visit Nellie’s, as well as anything that is quick and easy to make into a meal.
Another way you can support our food program is through a monetary donation, which can be used to buy TTC tokens for those who come to the food program. We strongly believe that transportation shouldn’t be a barrier to food access, so we give each woman a token to get home and a token to come back next week.
To make a secure online donation, please visit our donation page. Or, you can make an even bigger impact by becoming a monthly donor. Our regular monthly supporters help us provide critical and consistent funding towards our daily efforts to fight food insecurity in our community, as well as our other essential programs. Automatic monthly payments are easy to set up, convenient, and create a lasting impact on the lives of the women and their children who need us.
