The grocery bill is out of control

Most mornings traveling to the office would take me ten to twelve minutes on a good day but lately because of construction l needed to take a few detours and driving by the tent encampment at the Belleview church the thing that struck me was the foodbank across the street at the corner of Borden and College. Each and every day that I go by this food bank, the lineup keeps getting longer and longer with each day.

The Fort York Food Bank at 380 College Street at Borden opens at 9am to 2pm and the lineups are as long as your eyes can see with folks from all walks of life. This particular morning l had to be somewhere at 5 am and the lineup had folks that had camped out overnight to get some food.This food bank resonates with me because I grew up in this neighborhood and I have never seen it to this extent. The line to me represents what has been occurring to our city and the net effects that inflation has had. To a lesser extent COVID-19 and its effects on our economy. In many cases these food banks are the only alternatives to families and folks that need help coping with everyday living.

Food Banks have received more than one million visits across this country in the past month according to some experts. It is the highest number on record. In addition to this surge in demand, food banks are dealing with rising food costs. The demand for corporate help is probably one of the best solutions to this growing problem. Corporate sponsorship is helping but it needs to do more, and we really need to work with the government on this very serious out of control problem. Governments need to step in to help the tens of thousands of people who’ve been forced to use food banks for the first time due to soaring housing costs, rising inflation and stagnant incomes.

The inflationary pressures that we’re seeing in Canada right now can only be making the situation more dire for folks that need help. In the past, people would turn to food banks during times of job loss, or due to lower wages – but over the past six months, Canadians are running out of money for food because of rising housing, gas, energy and food costs. These are all indications that we need to find new longer-term solutions to fight hunger and food insecurity. With inflation rates hitting 6.8 per cent, food inflation rose 9.7 per cent at the same time, compared to the last couple of years. These disparities in the numbers will force many of our citizens to go hungry. The simple fact that food cost is so much higher than the inflation rate will affect many families and individuals.

Many of our food suppliers and retailers are greedy pigs. Even though our federal government tried to slap them on the wrist there were no real serious consequences. Loblaws and similar companies have made piles of money and their profits have increased significantly. It seems they have a strangle hold on us and l really do not see any change coming soon.

Going back to the basics and becoming creative with food and how we prepare will take some learning and change, but change is always good. The creative homemaker and creation of old school items was never an impossibility as that generation was always very creative and resourceful to produce food from very little.
As l have stated in the past….one of the most practical things we can do is return to the lost art of cooking from scratch.

With rising food prices, we need to find alternatives to going back to the basics. Just simply planting your own vegetables and growing herbs and other such plant-based ingredients is all we need to prepare much of our foods. Working with your neighbors and extended families to prepare foods that could last the entire winter in a community type environment as we all pull together to help one another sounds corny, but this may just be a good alternative and fun to resolve hunger issues.

Food is a human right and charities cannot meet this need. It is critical that governments at all levels contribute and come up with an action plan that can work and then get folks back to a better life. Unfortunately, this issue seems to be catching everyone globally and much of the duty falls with the government and those that we have elected to use our tax base in a humane and equally fair process. We need all levels of government to act to ensure that all Canadians can afford to put food on the table.

Food prices in Canada and abroad will continue to escalade in the new year, with grocery costs forecast to rise to ten per cent in 2023 and beyond. However, whether it’s political or not, the Canadian Federal government issued a grocery rebate payment and folks are expected to have started receiving them last week in their bank accounts. The payment amounts are based on net income from your previous year’s tax filings. Eleven million Canadians are eligible for this rebate, and it is only a one-time credit and will be deposited into your account if you are eligible.

The Fort York Food Bank and many others are doing a fabulous job in trying to keep up with a growing demand, however, based on my observations and with the increasing number of folks that l have been observing each day unless we help each other and get some assistance from government, l don’t believe we can beat the hunger issues.

Vince Nigro/MS