Thursday August 24, 2023 | BURNABY, BC [Updated 8:54 am on August 25, 2023]
by Mary P Brooke, B.Sc. | Island Social Trends
Another $15 million has been issued toward supporting food banks in BC, with the funds issued directly to Food Banks BC. It’s to help “people struggling to put food on the table”.
In this economy, that’s becoming a more common problem for many households — including people who’ve never had to do that before. The middle class is being seriously eroded away, and people who were already struggling are finding it harder than ever.
The economy has been inflationary for the past year and half, but there have been underlying economic problems for decades. It has taken the federal government a long time to see the erosion of jobs, opportunities and security for hard-working people. All age brackets are affected, except for some pockets of the baby-boom generation (and some of their now-adult children) who found wealth improvement through real estate ownership.
Announcement in Burnaby:
Today’s announcement was made by Sheila Malcolmson, Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, along with Dan Huang-Taylor, executive director, Food Banks BC, at the Greater Vancouver Food Bank in Burnaby.
The $15 million announced today is from within the $200 million announced by Premier David Eby in March 2023 which was from the 2022-2023 budget surplus.
When surplus funds were announced earlier this year by Premier Eby for many directions in the BC economy, it was emphasized that these were one-time (even once-in-a-generation) bonuses based on extraordinary circumstances that saw a large surplus in 2022-2023. They were not regular line items in Budget 2023. It will be interesting to see if the magnitude of the food supply (distribution) challenge and other parts of the $200 million surplus rollout can be replicated in Budget 2024.
Meanwhile, over August and September, the 106 members of Food Banks BC are receiving funding based on local demand and number of people served, says the Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction.
Rising demand, including in emergencies:
“We all want people to have the support and services they need to get healthy, nutritious food. Global inflation has hit people hard, and the rising cost of food is especially challenging,” said Sheila Malcolmson, Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction. “Our new $15 million funding will help food banks meet rising demand and fund rapid access to food in emergencies like wildfire.”
This new food bank funding will is used in these directions, the Ministry outlined today:
- Food Banks BC will continue to help local food banks meet rising demand, fund rapid access to food in emergency events like wildfires and help solve food-access challenges that northern communities face.
- Food Banks BC will also work with some school districts that need extra help designing school food programs funded by the Ministry of Education and Child Care.
Food banks have become mainstream:
“Across B.C., we are experiencing greater demand for food banks than we have seen in the 40 years since food banking began in this province,” said Dan Huang-Taylor, executive director, Food Banks BC.
Food banks over 40 years? The service has become established as part of the food supply network for households in communities across the country. It used to be a backup, but it’s become mainstream now. People who’ve never before thought of ever having to access free food from a quasi-government organization are now stepping into that realm. There is a much larger socioeconomic issue at play here, which governments have ignored for decades as the investment-class got richer and everyone else got poorer.
Now the BC Government is seeing the problem, but mostly still tied to temporal events. “Food insecurity has increased due to inflation, supply-chain issues, and climate emergencies, such as fires and floods that interrupt food supply and production,” said the Ministry in a news release today.
Otherwise, the province now refers to food banks as a mainstream mechanism “to provide fresh, healthy food to their communities in a more sustainable and dependable way”.
Vancouver focus:
Today’s focus was at the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, which has seen a 40 per cent increase of families visiting.
Families that may have only previously attended the food bank once a month are now coming weekly, according to a GVFB fact sheet.
“Food insecurity in our province is increasing rapidly, and with it, the need for improved food bank infrastructure, storage solutions and food-purchasing capabilities,” said David Long, CEO, Greater Vancouver Food Bank, in today’s news release.
“Throughout the past year, we have seen a rapid growth in need for our services, registering an average of 800 clients a month, every month. This funding for Food Banks BC will enable food banks around the province to provide fresh, healthy food to their communities in a more sustainable and dependable way.”
Nonetheless, Island Social Trends has asked the Ministry if the funding being distributed evenly around the various food banks (based on number of clients), or if there is a criteria-based processed (e.g. more visits at some food banks, certain food types not available at some food bank locations, more seniors or children at particular food bank locations).
Meanwhile, it sounds like wildfire evacuee demand kickstarted this current interest, as well as taking the opportunity to provide additional support to northern communities.
Front-line hunger relief:
“This welcome and necessary funding from the Province will significantly enhance our work to support front-line hunger-relief agencies and to enhance access to food for those disproportionately impacted by poverty, including children and people living in B.C.’s northern communities.”
Food Banks BC funding is part of the historic $200-million investment announced in March 2023 to strengthen food supply throughout B.C., increase the availability of fresh food, encourage more food production in remote areas, strengthen food infrastructure, and create more regional community food hubs.
===== GOVERNMENT LINKS:
- TogetherBC, B.C.’s poverty reduction strategy: www.gov.bc.ca/togetherbc
- Food Banks BC: https://www.foodbanksbc.com/
- Greater Vancouver Food Bank: https://foodbank.bc.ca/
===== FOOD BANKS on the WEST SHORE (Vancouver Island):
Goldstream Food Bank (Langford)
Sooke Food Bank (Sooke)
===== RELATED ARTICLES by ISLAND SOCIAL TRENDS:
TD Bank Group donates $196,000 to Royal Roads food-growing initiatives (May 30, 2023)
BC contributes $7 million for Nanaimo food bank warehouse infrastructure (May 18, 2023)
Transitional process to an affordable future food supply (March 29, 2023)
Premier Eby announces $200 million for BC food security initiatives (March 7, 2023)
BC food security resilience directions in 2023 (March 1, 2023)
===== ABOUT ISLAND SOCIAL TRENDS:
Island Social Trends presents news insights through a socioeconomic lens. News is available free to read at IslandSocialTrends.ca but subscribers and advertisers are welcome, to help support ongoing local independent news.
The founding editor and publisher is Mary P Brooke, who continues her news publication series that began in 2008 on the west shore of south Vancouver Island: MapleLine Magazine (2008-2010), Sooke Voice News (2011-2013), West Shore Voice News (2014-2020), then Island Social Trends (2020 to present).
Mary P Brooke holds a B.Sc. in Foods and Nutrition and a university Certificate in Public Relations. Mary gives presentations on Urban Food Resilience as well as the current state of journalism in Canadian society.
The Island Social Trends section on Food Security continues to document news and trends about food resilience in BC and across Canada.