PARRY SOUND - Putting dinner on the table will remain a costly affair in 2012, according to a source at the UN.
Jose Graziano da Silva, who recently started his position as director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) with the UN, said he doesn’t think prices will rise by much, but food won’t be any cheaper this year - meaning more will go hungry.
Graziano told reporters last week that working towards the agency’s mandate to eradicate world hunger is his top priority, according to Toronto media reports.
The FAO estimates 925 million people, the majority in developing countries, were hungry in 2010.
This week, Graziano advised that it’s best to solve food security problems on a neighbourhood level.
According to the Ontario Association of Food banks, a network of 120 food banks including Parry Sound’s Harvest Share, 395,106 individuals accessed food banks in 2010.
Ten percent of those people were turning to food banks for the first time.
In Canada, 900,000 Canadians access a food bank each month - the highest level of food bank use since 1997.
This year, food banks will face challenging circumstances, said Bill Laidlaw, executive director for the Ontario Association of Food Banks.
“I think it’s safe to say in these challenging economic times this is going to get worse, not better,” he said last week. “People are less inclined to give and food producers and processors are being squeezed in terms of increased costs so they also might have less to contribute.”
Laidlaw said there aren’t any indications that the use of food banks is decreasing, and in many areas of Ontario, it’s increasing.
According to Debra Hubner, a communications coordinator with the association, single individuals represent the highest percentage of people accessing food banks in Ontario for the past two years.
Less nutritious
Those living alone might also be more inclined to eat less nutritious meals due to high food costs and convenience.
“It’s expensive to eat properly,” said Laidlaw. “We want our food banks to have nutritious foods, we want foods that are high in protein...you are healthier and you’ll have a better quality of life.”
Struggling
Food Banks Canada is currently concerned about families living on low income and single seniors going hungry, said Katharine Schmidt, executive director.
“We are most concerned about the people who are already struggling to put food on the table,” she said. “They spend a large portion of their income on food, and as prices rise, that portion increases - it’s certainly something we watch.”
Seniors who’ve lost their partner and are living on a tight budget are the most vulnerable, she said. In Canada, the average income of a single senior is $23,300, according to Statistics Canada.
Food banks Canada has seen a 26 per cent increase in people accessing food banks since 2008.Schmidt said she encourages people to think about a food bank like any other bank.
“At a bank, you put in savings when you can and hopefully when you need it it’s there to help you,” she said.
In Parry Sound, it costs $168.34 to feed a family of four, according to The Price of Eating Well Report 2010 by the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit. Statistics Canada figures show that half the working residents in Parry Sound bring home less than $20,535 annually - $9,000 lower than the median income in Ontario.
Tami Beaudreau, project coordinator with the District of Parry Sound Poverty Reduction Network, said getting enough healthy food is an important factor in breaking the cycle of poverty.
“We need fresh food, and sometimes if it’s too expensive to eat right, we end up eating all the wrong things,” she said. “I went into NoFrills the other day and a head of cauliflower was $3.47. It’s crazy. When you’re not eating right how do you find the energy to get a job?”
Currently the network, which began three years ago, supports local and provincial initiatives including Put Food in the Budget, a campaign lobbying for the province to increase the amount of social assistance to adults by $100 - to allow for a larger budget for food.
The poverty reduction network is also encouraging residents to talk about poverty in their community.
“A huge part of it is breaking the silence,” she said.