The Legault government is releasing $34 million in aid to counter food insecurity among Quebecers. Food banks, which face increased demand due to the rising cost of living, will receive funds to purchase additional food and store it in new facilities.
An amount of $6 million will allow the network of food banks in Quebec to continue to serve the population until September, during this period of record inflation and housing crisis.
“This is where we wanted to act immediately in a very concrete and pragmatic way”, underlines the Duty Minister responsible for Social Solidarity and Community Action Chantal Rouleau.
An envelope of $26 million will also be distributed to help the network of food banks to better preserve fresh food and to fight against food insecurity.
Most of this sum, ie $20 million over four years, is earmarked for improving the network’s storage infrastructure. According to the director general of Food Banks of Quebec, Martin Munger, these funds will allow the construction of new buildings and processing plants, as well as the purchase of more trucks.
“It’s really help that is structuring and I would even say transformational for our network. We are very satisfied with this announcement,” he said.
“We are increasingly collecting and distributing fresh foodstuffs: meat, fruit, vegetables, dairy products, bread, and that requires a lot more refrigerated space, then freezer space. And that, the program allows us to do. »
Nearly 1,200 food banks are part of the network, which feeds approximately 671,000 Quebecers per month, according to the most recent data. This is an increase of 33% compared to three years ago, and 9% since last year, according to the HungerCount 2022 report.
“Last year, the Quebec government was forced to act urgently to help people and help food banks obtain food,” said Minister Rouleau. From that, we don’t want to act in a hurry, we want to be able to plan things better. »
Act at the source
The executive director of Moisson Montreal, Chantal Vézina, is relieved to hear that the minister wants to fight against the causes of food insecurity.
“The will, I think, is not only to help food banks. The desire is to ensure that all Quebecers can eat,” she says.
“The objective is not to always put millions, millions and millions for the purchase of food. I think the goal is to find innovative projects. There is no magic solution, but we must find certain ways of working to at least have some sustainability, to have a lasting effect also for the phenomenon of food insecurity. »