I run a food bank and we are being crushed by the weight of doing what our governments refuse to do

No matter how much more food and money that food banks raise, we are being crushed by the weight of what our governments refuse to do. 

I’ve been a leader at Food Banks Mississauga for over 15 years, and we were recently forced to make the toughest decision in our organization's history. Due to financial constraints and to ensure long-term sustainability, we restructured by eliminating 16 percent of our paid staff and cancelling programs. 

Almost 200 percent more people use the food bank in Mississauga now versus before the pandemic. While our community has been generous and we have grown the organization significantly, we used to need Mississauga individuals and businesses to donate less than $3 million each year to operate the food bank. Now we need the same Mississauga residents and companies to give us almost $9 million each year, and many of them have reduced capacity to give as current cost-of-living pressures also impact them. 

Food banks are not funded by our governments. We are privately funded charities—“bandaid” solutions to fill policy gaps; funded by the generosity of everyday people and businesses we believe no one should go hungry. In Mississauga, we receive 1 percent of our annual resources from our regional government, which also has limited resources for social programs. 

The only way that we can continue to provide the same food support to over 56,000 Mississauga residents who rely on us is by reducing costs through layoffs and cancelling programs. Food banks have been continuously forced to increase our capacity to keep up with the number of folks who turn to us for support—we are expected to do more but with the same amount of resources—and the “bandaid” can’t stretch any further. 

Food insecurity is on the rise and worse than it has ever been in our country, most affecting those already vulnerable—households with kids, single-person households, and persons with disabilities. More than one million people in Ontario visited a food bank last year and the number continues to rise. In my community, food bank usage is at an all-time high and rose more in the last year than anywhere else in the country with 58 percent more people served. One in 13 Mississauga residents utilize a food bank and we project it will rise to 1 in 7 by 2027.

In November, the City of Mississauga declared food insecurity an emergency and Toronto and Kingston have since followed suit, as well as Ottawa Food Bank announcing a decrease in food provision to its network. Communities in Ontario and Canada are being crushed by this emergency and yet our provincial and federal governments refuse to acknowledge that what they have been doing isn’t working. Policies and social assistance programs currently in place aren’t working. We must not accept this as normal. We must tell our elected officials they cannot accept this as normal. Charities cannot be the ones left to ensure the vulnerable don’t fall through the cracks. 

To ensure we can provide food to neighbours who rely on us today, please make a financial donation to your local food bank. You are all that stands between your neighbours and hunger. 

To ensure our communities are food secure for tomorrow, review the election platforms of provincial parties and vote in MPPs who pledge to address poverty and food insecurity. Your vote can stop food banks, and your neighbours, from being crushed by the weight of what our governments refuse to do.

Meghan Nicholls is the CEO of the Food Banks Mississauga