In the past month, Food Banks Canada released two stellar reports: the 2023 Hunger Count and the Poverty Report Card. Both reports describe national trends and province-specific information.
They reported that Canada-wide, food bank visits increased by 32% since last year and 79% since 2019.
Given the Poverty Report Card gave the country a “D+” grade, this isn’t particularly surprising. It’s yet another reflection that the status quo is not serving the Canadian population and that there is an urgent need for change.
As Food Banks Canada puts it, “The latest figures make it clear that there are far more people struggling than in recent history, and our weak social safety net is not catching them.”
HungerCount 2023 Highlights
Every year, Food Banks Canada collects and reports on data that are collected from food banks and meal programs for the entirety of March. In their reporting, a “visit” is reported on an individual level. For example, if a person visits a food bank on behalf of their four–person family, that is reported as four visits.
A total of 62 food banks in Newfoundland and Labrador provided visitation data. In March, 2023:
There were a total of 15,425 visits, with one-third from children.
Visits increased by 12% since last year, and by 44% since March 2019.
N.L. had the highest percentage of seniors accessing food banks nationwide (10.6%).
Single-parent families were much more likely to visit a food bank than two-parent families (22.6% of visitations vs. 13.9%).
Nearly two-thirds of visits were from folks receiving social assistance. This is, by far, the highest percentage across Canada.
N.L. had the lowest percentage of visits from folks relying on job income in Canada (5.6%).
N.L. had the highest percentage of homeowners accessing food banks from across Canada (20.1%).
A national trend that is critical to point out is that Indigenous and other racialized people are disproportionately affected by food insecurity. Food Banks Canada reports that “among the general population in 2023, nearly half (48%) of people who are Indigenous reported having gone hungry in the previous 12 months due to lack of money for food, compared to 15% of the white population” (p. 16).
For a full report on the numbers for N.L. and across the country, visit the HungerCount website or read the full report (PDF).
Poverty Report Card Highlights
Food Banks Canada launched their first-ever Poverty Report Cards in September to create comparable data on the experiences of poverty for people living in Canada. These grades represent how well the provinces are doing with poverty reduction measures and will be updated annually.
Overall, Newfoundland and Labrador received a D- grade on the poverty report card — just slightly worse than the national grade and just slightly better than a fail.
In addition to the overall grade, the report card also provides information on four categories — each of which is further broken down and graded on the website:
Experiences of poverty: D+
Including an F for “Government Support Recipients Who Say Rates Are Insufficient to Keep Up with Cost of Living.”
Measurements of poverty: D-
Including an F for “Food Insecurity Rate.”
Standard of living: D-
Government progress on passing anti-poverty legislation: F
The Report Card contains a wealth of information. We highly recommend visiting the N.L. Poverty Report Card and spending some time just clicking through the information.
What Does This Tell Us?
In short, it reaffirms that our province needs immediate and effective action to reduce food insecurity and address the cost-of-living crisis. The status quo is clearly not good enough. Something needs to change.
In particular, social assistance rates are not high enough. These are not the first reports to show this (see the PROOF report and our analysis of the N.L. Nutritious Food Basket data). We’ve also heard this directly from folks receiving social assistance.
It also indicates that the costs of living are going up across the board, with more and more people running out of other options for support. Given that only a small portion of people experiencing food insecurity visit a food bank, the record-breaking increase in visitation is a massive red flag. Rising food costs, a lack of affordable housing, inadequate wages, and more, all contribute to the rising rates of food insecurity in N.L.
What Needs To Happen?
The HungerCount Report recommends two simultaneous paths forward. “We believe that if we focus on addressing both affordability issues (such as affordable housing) along with fixing our broken social safety net (such as better supports for low-income workers, single adults and people with disabilities), a better path forward is possible–one that leads to a Canada where no one goes hungry” (p. 7).
There are a number of actions to bring us down these paths in N.L. Increase social assistance rates and index them to inflation. Increase the minimum wage to a living wage. Create affordable housing options across the province. Implement a provincial school food program.
Food Banks Canada also recommends developing “a minimum income floor for all people in Canada” (p. 60). Implementing a Basic Income is one way to establish that income floor and could ensure that no one in N.L. lives in poverty.
Our recommendations for the Government of N.L.’s Social And Economic Well-Being Plan list numerous other actions to move us forward.
What’s clear is that all levels of government need to work together to make something happen. And that needs to happen now.
In the words of Food Banks Canada, “When is it enough?”
