GUELPH POLITICAST #453 – The Changing Food Bank (feat. Carolyn McLeod-McCarthy)

It’s hard to think of any aid agency busier these days than the Guelph Food Bank these days, and to prove it, they went to city council last November during budget delegation night to ask for help. It might come as a surprise to learn that the Food Bank has never received any government funding, but it's proof that food insecurity is now outside their control, and it’s the reason for changes that they’ve started to undertake.

According to Feed Ontario, over one million people accessed a food bank in Ontario between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024, which is an increase of 25 per cent over the year before and an 86 per cent increase since 2019-2020, the last year before the pandemic. To put that in context, one out of every 16 people in Ontario have been to a food bank lately, and if you think Guelph has escaped this deluge you would be wrong.

That’s why the Guelph Food Bank went to city council last fall. With 4,000 individuals using the Food Bank each month, which is more than double since before the pandemic,  the Food Bank needs government help for the first time. Its main location at 100 Crimea Street will now serve as a kind of distribution centre from where the food will flow to 10 satellite locations around the city. The Food Bank is adapting, and while they can’t do it alone, they do have a plan

Carolyn McLeod-McCarthy, Managing Director of the Guelph Food Bank, will join us this week to talk about that plan, and the pressures that they’ve been dealing with over the last few years that are unique to them. She will also talk about working with food pantries, co-ordinating with all local groups to fight food insecurity and going to city council to ask for financial help for the first time. And finally, she will talk about what the fight against food insecurity might look like in a few years. 

So let's dig into the changes at the Food Bank on this week's Guelph Politicast!

To learn more about the Guelph Food Bank, what services they provide, how you can volunteer, or how you can donate, you can visit the Food Bank website. You can also call the Food Bank at 519-767-1380 during their office hours, which is Monday through Friday 9 am to 5 pm. You can also follow them on the socials @guelphfoodback on Facebook and Instagram.

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