Ottawa Food Bank urging governments to activate poverty reduction strategies
July 24, 2019 (Ottawa, ON) – Feed Ontario (formerly the Ontario Association of Food Banks) released a study revealing that hunger and food bank use exist in every electoral riding in Ontario.
The study, which looked at 2018 food bank use between January 1st and December 31st, also revealed that the riding with this highest food bank use per capita is in the National Capital Region. The Ottawa-Vanier provincial electoral riding is in the top spot with 15 in 100 people accessing their local food bank.
“The fact that the area with the highest per capita food bank use in Ontario is located in a city as wealthy as Ottawa is concerning,” said Michael Maidment, CEO of the Ottawa Food Bank. “This study underlines the need for Ottawa to take a more focused approach in confronting poverty in our community. We are calling on the city to join us in developing a poverty reduction strategy that takes concrete action to address the root causes of poverty.”
The large Ottawa-Vanier riding contains several the Ottawa Food Bank’s member agency community food programs which exist to provide emergency food assistance in their neighbourhoods. One such program is Partage Vanier and their Vanier Community Service Centre.
“Partage Vanier is here for people in need in our community to provide food and other necessities of life,” says Helena Arruda, Director of counselling services and Community Development, at the Vanier Community Service Centre. “Our Community Service Centre also offers a range of services in French and English to help improve the quality of life for people in Ottawa-Vanier.”
The Ottawa Food Bank is urging the City of Ottawa and all levels of government to put poverty reduction strategies to action to take stress off local charities and instead address the root causes of poverty; such as affordable housing, jobs, and social assistance.
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To access Feed Ontario’s interactive map, please visit: http://map.feedontario.ca/
For further information on Feed Ontario and its research, please visit: https://feedontario.ca/feed-change/research/
About the Ottawa Food Bank
The Ottawa Food Bank is the main emergency food provider in the National Capital Region. Through a network of 114 community food programs, the Ottawa Food Bank provides food for over 37,520 people per month – 36 per cent of whom are children. Thanks to the community’s support, on average 12 to 14 tons of food is distributed from their Michael Street warehouse every weekday. For more information regarding the Ottawa Food Bank and how you can help provide healthy, accessible, sustainable food for all, please visit www.ottawafoodbank.ca
For more information:
Samantha Ingram
Communications Coordinator, Ottawa Food Bank
samantha@ottawafoodbank.ca
613-745-7001
