Food bank use down 5.6 per cent in Newfoundland

By The Telegram and The Canadian Press

The number of people using food banks in Newfoundland and Labrador has dropped 5.6 per cent this year, compared to 2011, according to the latest Hunger Count report by Food Banks Canada.

The report says an estimated 27,044 people in the province used a food bank in March 2012, compared to 28,642 in March 2011. A breakdown of the provincial statistics indicates that 38.8 per cent of those people assisted by food banks are children and 59.4 per cent are women.

Single-parent families account for 35.7 per cent, two-parent families, 26 per cent, couples with no children, 11.7 per cent and single people, 26.5 per cent.

Nationally, the number of people depending on charity for food continues to grow.

The report says more than 882,000 Canadians used a food bank in March 2012, up 2.4 per cent from last year.

The number of people using meal programs — where meals are prepared and served —also jumped 23 per cent from last year, the study found. It says food bank usage is up 31 per cent since the start of the 2008 recession.

“We were hopeful that we’d start to see things level off, but that’s not the case,” said Katharine Schmidt, Food Banks Canada’s executive director.

The report paints a shifting picture of hunger across Canada — one in which the number of people who are hungry remains the same, but where they live is constantly changing.

About half of the 4,500 food programs surveyed reported an increase in food bank use, while half reported a decrease or no change, the study revealed.

“These findings suggest the economic health of communities can change drastically in a short period of time,” the report said.

In 2009 and 2010, a large majority of food banks saw an increase, but the split in the last year reflects the fact that some communities saw their economic situation improve, while conditions worsened elsewhere.

Alberta, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and the Territories all saw a decrease in food bank use between 2011 and 2012, with the biggest drop in Alberta.

But at the heart of Canada’s resource economy, food bank use is still 59 per cent higher than it was prior to the recession.

Manitoba and P.E.I. saw the biggest jumps in food bank use last year.

The association has been taking a snapshot of food bank and meal program use across Canada for 16 years.

The results help form the most-up-to-date picture of poverty in Canada; Statistics Canada reported in 2009 that about 3.2 million people now live in low income households, including 634,000 children.

That was up slightly from the year before.

In terms of demographics, users of food banks have tended to remain the same year-over-year.

Children and youth make up 38 per cent of food bank users, while people on social assistance, First Nations and single parent families also experience high levels of need.

This year’s report found that in March, nearly 93,000 people used a food bank for the first time.

“Though it is a common belief that the same individuals and families utilize food banks month after month and year, in fact for most it is an emergency resource used for a short period of time,” the report said.

“When a person using a food bank gets back on a firm economic standing, their place in line is taken by another person who needs help putting food on their table.”

What’s needed to drive the numbers down is a smarter approach to getting people back on their feet, Schmidt said.

“Our current government has done its best to manage through a very difficult period,” she said. “But the hunger count shows there is still more to do.”

The report makes five recommendations, including investing in more affordable housing to ensure people don’t have to make the choice between rent and food.

It also calls for more investment in education and training for those unable to access employment benefits, while beefing up income supplements for seniors to keep them above the poverty line.

The Conservatives said they have done some things in recent years to help alleviate the problem, including instituting new tax credits, increasing benefits for seniors and cutting the GST.

“We do feel for those who are struggling and we are trying to help them in a number of ways,” Human Resources Minister Diane Finley said.

But the New Democrats said those efforts don’t go far enough.

“It’s the moral responsibility of the government to ensure that all citizens have enough to eat,” said NDP housing critic Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet.

“It’s a matter of choice. Time and time again the Conservatives choose to ignore those in need.”