Why do we NEED Food Banks ?

They are the 'modern' version of Soup Kitchens and Bread Lines.Although the backdrop of this social scenario appears quite different from the images we hold of the great depression of the past,  the truth is that things have really changed little. Unemployment still remains rampant in British Columbia despite the media-political hype that attempts to tell us otherwise. Food Banks are necessary in an attempt to bridge the shortfall left by the so-called social safety net. Social assistance amounts have been gouged and claw-backs have been enforced which leave the minimal amounts provided to families totally inadequate in providing for the basic rights of housing and food for every citizen. The government simply refuses to address the problems of poverty in our country, leaving thousands of citizens out in the cold. They expect that the problems will be addressed by community organizations and church groups to try their best to care for the underprivileged. Thus we have FOOD BANKS. .

In a wealthy country such as Canada,    Food Banks should NOT be necessary

The CAFB also stated in a news release on November 19, 2004 that: : Reliance on food banks has grown among low-income families, indicating that those children already living in poverty are growing up in even more dire circumstances. Child hunger in Canada is also greatly disproportionate to their share of the overall population of 7,778,875, at 25.9%. Food bank use in British Columbia went up by 16 percent since last year, according to the CAFB's 2004 HungerCount survey published on October 15, 2004. The survey, a leading barometer of hunger, food insecurity and poverty in Canada, is taken in the month of March 2004, and indicated that 84,317 people — including 26,320, or 41.7 percent children — received food from food banks and emergency food programs in the province of British Columbia. The large increase in BC food bank use between 2003 and 2004 is accurate and is attributed to the fact that 70 percent of participating food banks (88) reported increases. More people were reported accessing food banks across the province: in small rural communities, towns, cities and large urban centres. With over 84,000 people receiving food from food banks in one month alone, the challenges are immense to keep enough food on the shelves to feed people in the winter months to come. They are needing to take  additional measures such as rationing food, buying food when they otherwise would not or turning people away. On a national basis food bank use in Canada went up by 8.5 percent and reached an unprecedented 841,640 HungerCount is the only national survey of emergency food programs in Canada, conducted annually since 1997. With a sample of 482 food banks it goes beyond presenting the most current data and calls for strategic solutions to food security for Canadians.                                                 The Canadian Association of Food Banks [link below]

How about some INDIVIDUAL ACTION ?

Recently the Canadian Association of Food Banks announced that 40% OF FOOD BANKS CURRENTLY HAVE DIFFICULTY MEETING INCREASING DEMANDS