Food insecurity is worsening “dramatically” in Quebec at a time when food banks are experiencing unprecedented traffic, warns the general director of the Food Banks of Quebec (BAQ), Martin Munger.
In just one year, the number of people who use its network of 1,300 community organizations jumped 30% to reach 872,000 people in March 2023, according to the Hunger Report 2023, unveiled Wednesday. This is a jump of 73% compared to the results of 2019, before the pandemic. “Of the population of Quebec, one in ten people use food banks to get food,” worries Mr. Munger in an interview. It becomes a social problem. »
The number of food baskets, for its part, has doubled in four years, going from 345,000 to 682,000.
If the HungerCount offers the most recent reliable data, the situation seems to have deteriorated since the data collection was done in March, notes Mr. Munger. “What I have as a message from people on the ground is that [l’achalandage] continued to increase. »
For households, the rise in the price of the grocery basket has been the most painful and persistent element of the recent increase in inflation. In September, the annual rate of food inflation stood at 5.9%, according to Statistics Canada. Food inflation reached 9.8% in 2022, a peak since 1981.
Having a job is no guarantee of escaping food insecurity either. In 2023, 18.5% of food bank users derived the majority of their income from employment, compared to 13.5% in 2019.
The portrait in Quebec is similar to that of the country as a whole, according to data from Food Banks Canada published the same day. The number of visits to a food bank jumped by 32% in one year in March 2023 and by 78.5% compared to March 2019.
Help from Quebec requested
Food banks will need additional funds from the Quebec government to meet demand, argues Mr. Munger. In the BAQ network, 75% of organizations said they had run out of food to meet demand. “I would say that there is an opening, but we have not had a firm answer to date, and I would add that it is urgent. »
BAQ is asking for $18 million “to make it until March 31.” “We are starting to have holes in the shelves again and to have lines in front of food banks,” laments Mr. Munger.
In Quebec, the Liberal spokesperson for social solidarity, Greg Kelley, described the situation as “catastrophic”. He asks the government to quickly grant the requested amounts. “Minister Rouleau does not seem to hear the heartfelt cry of our food banks,” he denounces. In the press scrum, the Minister responsible for Social Solidarity, Chantal Rouleau, promised that her government will be “deliverable”, but did not want to give an amount. “I see very well what is happening on the ground, I listen very well. »