Advocate

Hunger is a symptom of poverty.

We, and food banks across Canada, exist not because there is a lack of food in Ottawa or Canada, but because there are people who don’t have access to adequate income to afford the necessities – food included.

Systemic, policy, and societal changes are not only necessary to ending hunger, but also alleviating poverty. These changes require cooperation and collaboration from all levels government.

While our main priority is to ensure we provide the best food possible to our member agency food programs and the community, we also want to be heard. The Ottawa Food Bank has traditionally refrained from taking an advocacy role, but during our strategic planning process, it was identified that as the largest food security agency in Ottawa, we had a responsibility to speak on behalf of those with no voice.

We have and will continue to meet with councillors from across the city, sharing with them the food security challenges in their individual wards and the entire city. We asked municipal officials to include food security as a priority in upcoming strategic plans.

We look forward to working together with all levels of government to get Poverty Reduction Strategies in place.

Changes we need to see in communities across the city and country:

Increased affordable housing availabilities

Better job opportunities with adequate pay
(full-time work with benefits)

Better social assistance supports and rates that keep up with the cost of living

Need food?

Use our look up tool to find the community food program in your neighbourhood.