Foodbanks

 

On a Tuesday in September this year I found myself driving across Norfolk County past fields of squash, pumpkins and zucchini to a local foodbank where, as a volunteer driver, I had taken a neighbour.  After lining up for one and a half hours, my neighbour emerged with a much-needed bag of food.  

Many in our community have no other option but to access foodbanks and community food programs. 

  

**One in six households in Haldimand and Norfolk Counties are food insecure. - they do not have enough money to buy food.

**The monthly cost to follow a healthy eating pattern for a family of four in Haldimand and Norfolk Counties was $1,122.43 calculated at May of 2023 using a tool called the Ontario Nutritious Food Basket

**Following a healthy eating pattern for that family of four with a full-time minimum wage earner takes up 27% of their income. 

Canada’s first foodbank was established in Edmonton’s Prince of Wales Armouries in 1981.  Its creation was intended to be an interim measure to address unmet community needs. Today there are 700 Foodbanks in Canada. In Haldimand and Norfolk there are thirteen foodbanks and food programs.

According to the The Ontario Living Wage Network, “Despite the annual October 1st increase to the provincial minimum wage to $17.20, there is still no place in Ontario where you could work full-time and cover all your expenses.”  

The Network calculates what is they call a “living wage.”  Each November they update the figure. Community-specific data is used to determine the expenses for a family with two working adults and two children. In Haldimand Norfolk that figure is $20.90 per hour.  

“Household food insecurity is a problem rooted in inadequate incomes. Research has shown that policy changes that support stable incomes that meet the cost of living can make a difference,” according to the local Health Unit. 

We drove home from the foodbank on that sunny September Tuesday through the countryside known as Ontario’s Garden. I pulled the car over in front of my neighbour’s home.  Across the street was a food market.  It wasn’t busy.

Everyone in our community should have access to safe, affordable and nutritious food that is right for them and their family.  

If you are able, consider supporting a local foodbank this holiday season.  The Mission Foodbank sserves Clear Creek, Houghton, Langton, Port Rowan, St. Williams and Walsingham.  It is located at 67 Queen Street in St. Williams ON N0E 1P0 · 

You can drop donations off there on the mornings of the first and third Tuesdays of the month 
or make a cash donation to PO Box 265 Port Rowan N0E1M0 or by calling Joan Skuce 
at 519-586-3003.