400,000 rely on food banks each month in Ontario, By Laurie Monsebraaten, March 22, 2011, Toronto Star: “Hunger is a daily reality for Mike Crawford, 56, as he treks across downtown Toronto in search of soup kitchens between monthly visits to a local food bank. Crawford, who tumbled onto welfare after a nervous breakdown a decade ago, is among more than 400,000 Ontarians – or 3 per cent of the province’s population – who are forced to turn to food banks every month, according to a new report by the Ontario Association of Food Banks. Food bank use has grown by an unprecedented 28 per cent since the recession in 2008, making Ontario the third highest user of food bank services in Canada behind Newfoundland and Manitoba, says the report released Tuesday…”
Tag: Food pantries
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Ohio
More qualify for food aid, but few make it last, By Jessica Alaimo, January 3, 2011, Newark Advocate: “A couple of kids were trying to entertain themselves in a dull food pantry waiting room, but the adults among them were quiet. However, there was a sense of community as each person was called to walk through the four long walls of wire shelves chock full of cereal, canned goods and personal care items. There also was a refrigerator full of milk and cheese and three freezers full of meat. It was the end of the month. Christy Dilley, 26, and Natasha Blankenship, 27, both young mothers in Lancaster, were there for the same reason — their government food assistance didn’t stretch far enough. This was common for many in the room. In November, more than 1.7 million Ohioans spent $241.1 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds, commonly known as food stamps, which are funded by the federal government. Almost three-fourths of that amount was spent in the first half of the month, and 30 percent was spent in the first five days…”
Increasing Need for Assistance
- Colo. food banks see “staggering” increase in need, By Colleen O’Connor, November 18, 2010, Denver Post: “Colorado’s five major food banks distributed more than 76 million pounds of food throughout the state last year, a 25 percent increase over the previous year, and experts expect worse to come. ‘Already, this fiscal year . . . is on pace for another 7 to 10 percent increase over the prior year, which makes that a 32 to 35 percent increase over a two-year time period,’ said Kevin Seggelke, president and chief executive of Food Bank of the Rockies. ‘That’s just a staggering number. The worst news is that we continue to hear that even if the economy (goes) back to pre-2008 levels, there may be a gap of 18 to 24 months’ before the number of people swamping state food banks returns to pre-recession levels, he said. A report released this week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that food insecurity – the lack of consistent access to a nutritious, balanced diet – remained relatively stable in 2009, with the number of U.S. households classified as food insecure increasing slightly to 17.7 million from 17.6 million in 2008…”
- Employed but low-income N.J. families struggle to find assistance, By Carmen Juri, November 14, 2010, Star-Ledger: “Before the economic slump, Contina Wright and her family enjoyed the creature comforts of a middle-class lifestyle. Wright and her husband, a construction worker, spent money freely, vacationed, dined out regularly and had enough left over for savings. ‘We had everything covered,’ said Wright, 38. All that changed when the housing market plunged. With construction jobs scarce, Wright became the sole breadwinner in a family of six. Unable to pay bills, the family hit rock bottom last year and had to live at a homeless shelter for two months. These days, Wright and her family are actually lucky they found a shelter for the underemployed…”
- Hunger grows in Oregon, according to report, By Jillian Daley, November 19, 2010, Salem Statesman Journal: “Oregon is the third-hungriest state in the United States, according to a recently released report. About 6.6 percent of 1,514,000 Oregon households (about 500,000 people) had very low food security, meaning they did not have regular access to healthy food, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released Tuesday. The number of Oregonians suffering from low or very low food security is two percentage points higher than it was in a 2004-06 study…”