Meadowvale sees increase in food bank usage. Even some people who used to donate to food banks now need their services. Folks are falling out of the middle class and into poverty for the first time – almost 40% of our food bank visitors last year came for the first time.
We are facing unprecedented times as food insecurity remains an emergency, food bank usage is on the rise, and our neighbours here in Meadowvale continue to struggle.
I’ve been a leader at Food Banks Mississauga for over 16 years, and we have never seen poverty rise so fast. We saw over half a million food bank visits last year – the highest ever in our organization’s history. Food bank visitors are telling us that they used to donate to the food bank or send donations with their kids for a school food drive, but now they need food bank services.
Folks are falling out of the middle class and into poverty for the first time – almost 40% of our food bank visitors last year came for the first time. And almost 30% of food bank visitors have employment, which tells us that wages are not keeping up with the true cost of living.
Food Banks Mississauga is the largest poverty relief organization in Mississauga. We lead a network of 60+ food programs through a hub and spoke model, working together to realize a food-secure Mississauga. Through this network, we provide healthy food for almost 10 million meals each year to those living with hunger.
Visits to our food programs across Mississauga have quadrupled since 2019, and we have been forced to increase our capacity again and again to keep up with the number of folks who turn to us for support. With the Region of Peel funding just 5 weeks of our operation, and no support from the provincial or federal governments, we rely on our generous community for the other 47 weeks of the year.
Seven food programs in our network serve Meadowvale, and last year, they saw almost 55,000 visits. These are your neighbours, your child’s classmates, the person next to you at the grocery checkout line.
One of those neighbours is Chris (name changed to protect privacy), a father of two who worked at the same company for over 25 years until the company unexpectedly shut down. Chris had done what we’re taught to do – he had savings, was planning for retirement with his RSP, but it all only went so far when he lost that job. He used up his severance pay, savings, and RSP, and still it wasn’t enough to make ends meet.
Imagine you’re in what should be the “stable” years of your life, having achieved a successful career. But instead, you’re faced with the daily stress of whether you can buy groceries to feed your kids, if you can make bill payments and afford life’s other necessities like medication and transportation.
I wish I could say that Chris’ story is unique. But the reality is, there are thousands of neighbours facing these struggles.
I meet so many food bank visitors who were told that if you do everything “right” in life, you’ll be alright. But Chris, like so many others in Mississauga, had life throw them a curveball and is now turning to a food bank for support.
By Meghan Nicholls
Meghan Nicholls is CEO of Food Banks Mississauga. Learn more about the organization’s holiday campaign at foodbanksmississauga.ca/holiday.
