There are many heartbreaking tales behind the record number of Canadians using food banks as they struggle with high inflation and mounting housing costs, says a Vancouver food bank executive.

B次元官网网址淲e see parents who are skipping meals so that their children can eat. We see people who havenB次元官网网址檛 eaten in days. We see seniors who havenB次元官网网址檛 had produce in months,B次元官网网址� said Cynthia Boulter, chief operating officer with Greater Vancouver Food Banks.

More and more people are accessing its services each year, and with greater frequency than in the past, Boulter said, as low wages and high rents squeeze people between inflation and other rising costs.

Boulter said the B次元官网网址渦nprecedented, record-breaking timesB次元官网网址� are being felt by food banks across the country, where nearly two million people visited in the month of March, 32 per cent more than the same month the year before, and a 78 per cent increase compared with March 2019.

The numbers, contained in Food Banks CanadaB次元官网网址檚 annual Hunger Count report, highlight how Canadians are more food insecure than ever before as governments have seemingly ignored B次元官网网址渂laring alarm bells,B次元官网网址� the report said.

The data was collected from food banks across Canada, and this yearB次元官网网址檚 Hunger Count, as well as other studies, show more and more Canadians are B次元官网网址渟truggling to pay for basic expenses, and that levels of food insecurity are rising dramatically.B次元官网网址�

Seniors, single mothers, low-income workers, people on social assistance, and immigrants continue to drive food bank use, but this yearB次元官网网址檚 report showed a rise in use among working people in higher income brackets.

More than 40 per cent of users are on provincial social assistance programs, the report said, with stagnant payments thatput most recipients under the official poverty line.

Indigenous people are disproportionately represented among food bank users at 12 per cent, while making up around five per cent of the general population, the report said.

More than a quarter of food bank users are immigrants who have been in Canada for less than a decade, the report said, a usage rate that has doubled since 2016.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 one thing to look at a report filled with these big numbers,B次元官网网址� said Food Banks CanadaB次元官网网址檚 CEO Kirstin Beardsley. B次元官网网址淏ehind every single one of these numbers is a person, and I know what it takes for someone to get to the point where theyB次元官网网址檙e turning to a food bank for help, and so you replicate that two million times in a single month and itB次元官网网址檚 heartbreaking.B次元官网网址�

Beardsley said that those in the food bank sector across the country say the explosive growth in usage numbers are B次元官网网址渦nsustainable.B次元官网网址�

Political action, she said, means that governments need to make B次元官网网址渓ong term social policy investments,B次元官网网址� from action on affordable housing to increasing fixed income rates.

B次元官网网址淭hese are investments in our ability to thrive as a nation,B次元官网网址� she said.

As the affordability crisis has intensified, Beardsley said, people who work at food banks B次元官网网址渜uite frankly, are shouldering too much of this burden.B次元官网网址�

Food bank usage is a B次元官网网址渜uiet problemB次元官网网址� where many people B次元官网网址渟uffer in silence,B次元官网网址� she said, and only widespread public outrage will drive the political courage to create meaningful change.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e not talking about a small investment in the future of this country,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淲hat really drives political courage, to be honest, is everyday folks like you and I getting mad enough to make this a ballot issue, to make this an issue at the election, to not let our elected officials at every level of government off the hook anymore.B次元官网网址�

Even as the report paints a grim picture, Beardsley said food banks remain places of B次元官网网址渉ope,B次元官网网址� where communities come together to lift up those in need.

For those in the food bank sector to be ultimately successful would mean no more need for them, and theyB次元官网网址檙e essentially hoping to work themselves B次元官网网址渙ut of a job,B次元官网网址� she said.

Until then, Beardsley said, B次元官网网址渢hereB次元官网网址檚 no choice but to keep raising our voices, telling our stories, sharing the data, and if weB次元官网网址檝e got a whole country behind us, I donB次元官网网址檛 think we can be ignored.B次元官网网址�

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