Sask. government grants $2M to food banks over next 2 years

The province has pledged $2 million for Food Banks of Saskatchewan to help with supplies at a time when the non-profits are reporting an acute shortage.

The money is to be provided over the next two years, with the first instalment coming next month. The province said that the funding will help Saskatchewan families and food banks with higher food costs and inflationary pressures. 

Michael Kincade, executive director at Food Banks of Saskatchewan, said the province's food banks are running out of money and supplies at a rapid pace. Kincade said they're serving more than 44,000 people every month, with that number increasing. 

"Nobody likes to admit it, but it's happening. Unfortunately, we're seeing families with incomes, with double incomes even, having to access food banks right now. So yes, it's alarming and yes, it keeps me up at night," he said.

Last week, the Moose Jaw and District Food Bank said it only had two to three weeks worth of supplies left.

Social Services Minister Gene Makowsky said Thursday that the new funding isn't a response to that plea for donations and was already in the works.

"Hearing from constituents, hearing from food banks and the outreach we do as MLAs, there's need out there, so this is a bit of a response," he said in a briefing Thursday.

The province said Food Banks of Saskatchewan will be responsible for distributing the funds in the 36 communities they serve. The money will be divvied up based on population and average food bank usage.

For example, the province said Regina's food bank will get $260,000 each year.

Saskatchewan has seen a sharp increase in food insecurity and nearly one in five residents went hungry at least once in 2021, the sixth-highest rate in Canada, according to Statistics Canada.

Food banks across the province are seeing record demand, but donations are dropping because of the higher cost ofliving, Kincade said. 

Last March, there were more than 55,000 visits to food banks in the province, nearly double the number in March 2019, according to a report by Food Banks Canada. Approximately 40 per cent of visits were by children, the report said.

The province's Opposition NDP is calling the injection of funds a "Band-Aid solution."

"Food banks should be a last resort. But under the Sask. Party, we've seen record increases in usage, particularly among kids, as families working harder and harder are still falling further and further behind,"  NDP social services critic Meara Conway said in a new release.