Food banks across Canada are begging to be put out of business

Josh Smee imagines a future in which food banks no longer exist in Canada, because people don't need them.

"Food banks as an organization are about as old as I am," Smee, the CEO of the Newfoundland and Labrador charity Food First NL, told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.

"It feels like we've had this model forever, but we haven't. It doesn't have to be here."

Food First NL is one of several food charities across Canada who have signed onto a campaign called "Put Food Banks Out of Business."

Launched by the Toronto Vegetarian Food Bank, it calls on Canadians donating to food banks this holiday season to also reach out to their local members of Parliament to advocate for the implementation of  basic income to keep people above the poverty line.

"I think one of the most important gifts we can give alongside cash is the gift of our voice," Smee said. 

They're making the call on Giving Tuesday, when charities around the world campaign for donations ahead of the holidays, sometimes with matching funds from companies. 

Across the country, the demand for food banks is surging. 

A report by Food Banks Canada this year found there were more than two million visits to Canadian food banks in March 2024 alone — six per cent more than the year before, and 90 per cent more than in 2019.

Of the 12,000 new people who are using food banks monthly, more than 50 per cent are employed full-time, while more than 60 per cent have a post-secondary education and are working.

As working Canadians turn to food banks month after month, the report says the charities don't have the resources to keep up. More than 30 per cent of food banks reported running out of food.

That's partly because food banks were never meant to shoulder this weight, says Marjorie Bencz, executive director of Edmonton's Food Bank — the first one to set up shop in Canada.

Edmonton's Food Bank, she says, first opened its doors in the 1980s as a temporary measure to help people get through an economic downturn. 

Decades later, it's still open and busier than ever. What's more, she says the conditions that led to its creation — low incomes and a lack of affordable housing — have not improved.