'It's a crisis situation': Food bank usage tops list of 2024 Food Stories in Canada as holiday hampers get handed out in Windsor

Local dignitaries and donors joined Unemployed Help Centre (UHC) staff Thursday morning in distributing 250 Christmas food hampers to preregistered food bank clients at the UHC – Hub of Opportunities.

Just hours before, the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University presented its annual review of the most impactful food stories shaping Canada’s agri-food landscape, with record food bank visits topping the list.

"It wasn't a difficult pick for our group, unfortunately," said Sylvain Charlebois, senior director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab. "Higher interest rates, the cost of living has gone up in Canada. It's not just food prices. It's everything."

Charlebois said Canada’s food insecurity rate reached an unprecedented 22.9 per cent, driven by soaring prices and inflation, emphasizing the need for stronger social safety nets.

"At the end of the day, people need help," said Charlebois. "You also have seen the emergence of the working poor, people working, but they're still not able to make ends meet. And that's really a big struggle. So, we felt it was important for us to at least recognize this issue in Canada for 2024 and hoping that 2025 will be a better year."

UHC officials said the need across the Windsor-Essex region continues to grow, with a 27 per cent increase in first-time food bank users last year.

Unemployed Help Centre distributed 250 Christmas food hampers to preregistered food bank clients on Dec. 19, 2024. (Chris Campbell/CTV News London)

"There's a lot of myths and misconceptions about who utilizes a food bank," stated UHC CEO June Muir.

According to Muir, many individuals are struggling and scraping just to get by. She noted another 250 Christmas hampers were also distributed to the Windsor-Essex Food Bank Association.

"Feed Ontario just released a report, 1 in 4 are utilizing the food bank that are employed," Muir said. "We here at the Unemployed Help Center UHC Hub of Opportunities, we're seeing working people now,” said Muir. "When you're seeing working people utilize a food bank that tells us it's a crisis situation."

Muir continued, "If in a position to help, please donate, even if it's $5 here and there, it makes a difference because many food banks find their shelves are empty and they're not able to keep up. Someone asked me, are people still shy about utilizing a food bank? And I said, no, because you know why? It's needed. That need is there today. What I'm embarrassed about is maybe I can't give them everything."

Meantime, Charlebois remains optimistic about 2025.

"We do think that 2025 will be a better year for Canadians for two reasons. One, interest rates are dropping. Canadians are paying a billion more in interest rates compared to two years ago just to cover their mortgage and debt. So, we do expect that lower interest rates will actually put less pressure on households,” he said. “And the other thing, of course, in 2024 is that the wage increases outpaced inflation in general. So, for the first time in many years, you do feel that wages/compensation is helping and is now supporting families way more than just last year, the year before. So at least there's some positives that we can look at for 2025 moving forward."

Charlebois added, "We need to have a conversation about the guaranteed minimum income as an example. We should think about how we could supply families in need with nutrition certificates they can redeem at farmers markets, for example. That's been something that has been ongoing in B.C., for example in other places. So there are ways to, I would say normalize food security. If it's chronic, if it's temporary, it can actually help out people and not just go to the food bank and get some food for a while, but you can actually help them feel normal. Going to food banks is the worst feeling ever and so you want to make sure that people feel human as they seek help."

For the full report and analysis of 2024’s top food stories, head to their website.