Food Banks Canada released its annual Hunger Count Tuesday.
It is a comprehensive report on hunger and food bank usage in Canada and has recommendations for change. The count is conducted during March of each year and is done with the assistance of food banks throughout Canada.
According to the statistics from March 2013, 833,098 people were assisted by food banks across Canada - down from 872,379 in 2012, however food bank use is still 23 per cent higher than in 2008. Food Banks Canada attributes this to the effects of the recession still being felt across the country, with a large number of people still unable to afford enough food for themselves and their families.
In North Battleford, food bank usage dropped six per cent from the previous year. A total of 1,179 individuals were assisted by Battlefords District Food and Resource Centre in March 2013 (1,244 in 2012). Of these, 56 per cent are children and youth under the age of 18 (52 per cent in 2012), eight per cent report employment related income (nine per cent in 2012) and74 per cent report being on social assistance or a disability program (73 per cent in 2012). Further five per cent are seniors (seven per cent in 2012) and 51 per cent are housed in the rental market (58 per cent in 2012).
"Each year we continue to see many of our food bank users, especially those on social assistance, struggling to make ends meet each and every month. Those on social assistance and others on a 'fixed income' continue to be challenged by increased costs of essentials such as food and housing," Bill Hall, executive director of the Battlefords District Food Bank in North Battleford said.
"Regarding food bank clients, many feel that by operating a food bank, we are developing a system of 'dependence.' In reality, what we have discovered is that the majority of our clients only use the food bank when they absolutely need to. In fact, 26 per cent of clients used the food bank once in a year, 51 per cent of our clients used the food bank three times or less and only seven per cent of our clients used the food bank 20 times or more (regular usage)."
Saskatchewan figures have also been released with food bank usage down 8.8 per cent from 2012, (22,465 in 2013 compared to 24,621 in 2012). This is attributed to the continuing strength of the job market in Saskatchewan, but it was still noted as 26.6 per cent higher than the 17,751 who used Saskatchewan food banks in 2008.
The main source of clients to food banks in Saskatchewan remains those individuals receiving social assistance and disability income supports. For 2013, those receiving social assistance made up 55.9 per cent of food bank users (58.7 per cent in 2012), with an additional 6.7 per cent of clients on disability related income support (5.0 per cent in 2012).
The full Hunger Count 2013 report is available at http://www.foodbankscanada.ca/.
