Feed Ontario and food banks across the province are encouraging residents to make reducing hunger a priority during municipal elections.
As more people than ever before turn to food banks for help, we’re marking Hunger Action Month by encouraging residents of communities throughout the province to learn more about what’s driving hunger, how it impacts their local area, and the ways they can support lasting solutions.
Hunger exists in every community in Ontario. Across the province, high rental rates and the cost of living are making it harder for people to afford their basic necessities. As a result, more children, adults, seniors, and working people need support from food banks to get by.
More than 1 million people turned to food banks over the last year, accessing services more than 8 million times. This tells us is that those facing hunger need more support than before. The growing number of visits shows that circumstances are worsening for people struggling to make ends meet.
“Hunger exists in every community in Ontario, but it doesn’t have to be this way,” said our CEO, Carolyn Stewart. “Record-high food bank use isn’t about food, it’s a sign that more people can no longer afford their basic necessities. Hunger Action Month is an opportunity to better understand why so many people are struggling to make ends meet and to have important conversations about how we can work together to build stronger, healthier communities.”
With province-wide municipal elections just around the corner, Hunger Action Month is also an opportunity for Ontarians to learn more about hunger in their community and to ask local candidates how they will make life more affordable and work to reduce hunger.
Community members can also get involved by:
Learning
- Find out about hunger in their area by using our new Hunger in My Community tool.
- Stay up to date with our work to end hunger in the province by signing up for our newsletter.
Advocating
- Ask municipal election candidates how they plan to reduce hunger and poverty.
- Sign our petition to help us work toward lasting change on a provincial level.
Supporting
- Help keep food bank shelves across the province stocked by making a donation – for every $1 donated, we can provide 2 meals to someone facing hunger.