Grey Bruce charities have joined forces to call for a universal basic income to address the growing need for food support.
Between January and September, Food Bruce Grey data shows demand for area meal programs jumped 30 per cent over the same time period in 2023.
OSHaRE, The Salvation Army, Owen Sound, area food banks, meal programs, and the United Way are increasingly struggling to meet the growing needs of families and individuals facing food insecurity.
The Executive Director of the OSHaRE meal program in Owen Sound, Colleen Seaman Trask, said the demand for their services has skyrocketed.
"In 2019 we served 20,000 meals in the year. In September of 2024 we served 20,000 meals in a month. So that is in a five year span a giant increase in the number of meals that we are serving," she explained. "A few short months ago, we were at like 13,000 or 14,000 meals in a month. So to see even that increase in the last three to four months has been has been substantial for us."
As more people find themselves unable to meet basic needs, services provided by charities are being relied upon as the official safety net. Trask Seaman added OSHaRE has served over 146,000 meals so far this year, the same as in all of last year. She added the burden falls to charities already working at capacity.
The Salvation Army Owen Sound is providing over 30,000 lbs (13,610 kgs) of food to families each month.
Commanding Officer of The Salvation Army Owen Sound Jeff Howard said 20 per cent more people are relying on their food bank every month.
"There's 1,300 people every month that we're serving, which is about a 20 per cent increase over a year before," he said. "And then another thing that we wanted to highlight was a third of those people are children."
Alice Wannan, Manager of The Salvation Army Community and Family Services, explained that is a huge number of people relying on food banks in a community of 21,000 people.
"In the last year, we have provided over $1.5 million of practical food assistance in our community," Wannan revealed. "And to us, that is a staggering number."
Wannan said they are seeing a difference in the face of who uses their food bank.
"It is donors who used to be able to be in a position of giving, who are now needing to access food bank services. It's our senior population who we continue to see," Wannan added. "They are going hungry. We see them in our parking lot every day. There are students who are just attending our college programs, here in our community, who are going to school hungry."
There is also a food depot set up in the local high schools. Wannan worried about being able to meet needs in the future.
"Our concern is always sustainability. If the numbers continue to rise, how many more years can we provide $1.5 million worth of practical food assistance?" she questioned. "We can't keep relying on our community. No one can keep relying on their communities to support all of those programs."
Francesca Dobbyn, Executive Director of the United Way of Bruce Grey, urged more people involved in the conversation on how to meet a growing demand for food charity.
"Despite innovating different ways of doing services and trying to connect people to different services, the need continues to grow, and we're really worried. As are organizations across the region, on sustainability. The economy is really challenging for our donors. You know, we have donors that are now clients and coming in for support. There's this a real concern and we just wanted to tell the story going into Thanksgiving food drive week, and then Christmas giving," Dobbyn shared. "This is part of a larger community conversation. We want to get started about the pressures on the charities, how people can support the charities and meet the current level of need. But also, then, encourage people to talk to their government officials, every level of government, lower tier, mid tier provinces, feds, about this issue."
Dobbyn said the solution to this crisis cannot be placed solely on charity. Hunger is an outcome of larger systemic issues like insufficient income, unaffordable housing, and lack of accessible support.
The organizations stressed the issue of hunger goes beyond immediate food needs because it is a direct consequence of economic inequality.
"You can't budget your way out. You know, from $1,300 on ODSP to paying $1,500 worth of rent, this is not a question of learning to budget or learning to cook or any of those types of issues, which is what this stereotype is," Dobbyn concluded. "This is where we need universal basic income. We need a living wage. We need to raise the rates for people on disability and Ontario Works."
In an effort to address the rising number of families accessing OSHaRE and The Salvation Army Owen Sound, they along with the United Way, created the Family Assist Market (FAM) where families could attend and sign up for OSHaRE’s Family Meal Support program, reducing the need to attend OSHaRE for daily meals. They could also access an emergency food hamper from The Salvation Army Owen Sound as well as access fresh produce. At the end of September over 100 families had signed up for the Family Assist Program.