Food banks see spikes in demand as Albertans struggle with rising costs
CBC
Alberta food banks say they're feeling the strain of demand that has grown by 20 to 60 per cent year over year as families grapple with the rising cost of getting food on the table.
Families have seen the cost of things like beef, baked goods and eggs soar over the last year, and food bank staff in Calgary, Airdrie and Red Deer say they're seeing the impact at their doors.
"We're definitely up [in demand] and unfortunately, due to inflation, due to the cost of living, rising prices, we do expect to see continued increases," said Betty Jo Kaiser, the communications coordinator with the Calgary Food Bank.
"We distributed over 9,000 emergency food hampers in July. Last year we distributed 7,300," Kaiser said.
The Calgary organization collected nearly 250,000 kilograms of food last year. In July, it provided food to about 24,000 people, up from more than 18,000 a year earlier — an increase of 33 per cent year over year.
Kaiser says demand continued to grow over the summer, and she's expecting it to keep getting higher.
The charity launched its annual city-wide food drive this week.
The demand among food banks isn't exclusive to Calgary.
Mitch Thompson with the Red Deer Food Bank says they're seeing similar trends and food banks are scrambling to keep up.
"We have people who are working and are just unable to keep up with the higher cost of food, the higher cost of fuel, the impact of higher interest rates," he said.
"Those impact working families, they impact individuals."
He says they've seen a 60 per cent year-over-year increase in demand each month in 2022.
Another food bank in the surrounding communities echoed the sentiment.
At the Airdrie Food Bank, hamper demand was up about 20 per cent over the first six months of 2022, compared to last year and that year-over-year demand for July and August was up nearly 50 per cent, says spokesperson Christine Taylor.