Food insecurity in York Region reaches ‘crisis levels’ for children, youth

Rising food costs, lack of affordable housing and inflation cited among contributing factors

Yorkregion.com
Aug. 8, 2023
Laura Broadley

As the cost of food increases, the number of people experiencing food insecurity also goes up, including children and youth. About one in three visits to food banks are children, according to Food Banks Canada.

Food insecurity is when a person or family doesn’t have enough food or has insecure access to food because of financial constraints, according to the Nutritious Food Basket report.

In 2020, one in seven York Region households experienced food insecurity in the last year. In 2019, about 11 per cent of children and youth (about 23,500), ages one to 17, lived in a food insecure household in York Region, according to the 2022 Nutritious Food Basket report.
“Based on what I’ve seen and heard, I would expect that number is much higher (in 2023),” said Kate Greavette, executive director of the York Region Food Network.

When children and youth live in a household that is food insecure, it can increase the chances of poor health, including being more susceptible to colds and other illnesses and more prone to headaches. They are also more prone to mental health issues, including anxiety, Greavette said.

“There’s social isolation that comes with food insecurity. It could mean that kids might not be able to go to a birthday party because they can’t bring a present,” she said. “Parents might be hesitant to have friends come over because there’s no snacks or dinner to offer.”

Addressing food insecurity at the systemic level is the key to making lasting change, and one of the things that will help address food insecurity is meaningful local data. But Greavette said there typically isn’t the resources to collect data in York Region around issues with poverty and food insecurity, making the data that is available “haphazard.”

“Having up-to-date statistics of the issue would make it easier for us to really communicate and articulate the extent of the problem in York Region in order to bring in donations to support our work, but also to raise the alarm with our elected officials and make sure we are working toward changes at the public policy level,” Greavette said.

Having local data would “elevate the cause” and make sure the issues the food network is seeing in the local communities are addressed, she added.

The issue at Newmarket Food Pantry has reached “crisis levels” as it has seen a 70 per cent increase in clients using its services from the beginning of 2022 to the beginning of 2023. Over 43 per cent of users of children, said executive director Adrian Bain.

The main reason people are now using food banks is the rising cost of food, housing affordability and general inflation, according to Bain.

“More and more employed people are turning to food banks,” he said. “There is no longer a ‘typical’ food bank user, it's employed people, new Canadians, students and neighbours.”

The federal grocery rebate will bring critical money to clients’ pockets but it won’t bring significant change, only government policy will do that, according to Bain.

There has been an increase in the number of families with children using the food bank over the last three years. As the cost of food increases, the amount of food donated has drastically decreased this year compared to others, said Carolyn Khan, executive director of the Helping Hand Food Bank in Bradford.

So far, the finances at Helping Hand Food Bank are stable, but Khan said it’s not sustainable because of how much food has to be bought. School food drives have traditionally brought in significant donations, but even that avenue hasn’t brought in as much as in the past.

“I think the lack of food donations is directly related to families with children who used to donate and who now are accessing our services,” Khan said.

The inflation needs to level out so people can keep up with the cost of living, Khan said, adding that monetary donations can be more effective because of the relationship the food bank has with local grocery stores.