New report finds Ontario households have food shortages than before

Every day, Angie Peters, the CEO of Toronto’s Yonge Street Mission (YSM), sees families and individuals experiencing severe food insecurity as they struggle to make ends meet.

Peters said the data found in the U of T study is exactly what she and her team are seeing on the ground. With income not keeping up with inflation, coupled with the city’s extremely high cost of housing, many are turning to charitable organizations like YSM for food and other services to get by.

“We’re constantly seeing new people. People who have never ever gone to a food bank before,” she said.

“Our usage is up by 247 per cent since before the pandemic and the numbers aren’t coming down.”

Peters said that the demand for food at YSM is so great that they’ve had to expand their food bank to other rooms in the Gerrard Street facility that were once used for programming.

“The whole system is on overload. The gauge is on red,” she said.

“There’s no more time. It’s only going to get worse.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peters said if families had adequate government benefits and subsidies, they could pay their rent and childcare and not go hungry or without the most basic of needs.

The most significant way to curb food insecurity is through more social housing, she said, noting that YSM is actively participating in that conversation and has organized a working group comprised of city leaders to look at ways to increase the number of units being built each year, and in turn get a handle on Toronto’s 14-year-long affordable housing waiting list.

The creation of a national task force with representatives from all three levels of government as well as developers/builders, funders and charities will also go a long way to address this need, she said.

“We need a real plan for deeply affordable housing. … We need more collaboration to find solutions. There’s no other option,” Pieters said.

For now, however, she said YSM urgently needs food and cash donations so that the families they serve don’t go hungry.

“People are not eating. We need help. We’ve gotta get food into people’s hands,” she pleaded.

“That’s the reality and kids are hungry.”

 

 

This article was reported by CP24