No riding immune to hunger

Feed Ontario has released a new study revealing hunger exists in every electoral riding and while food bank use is higher in urban ridings, Simcoe-Grey is not immune.
In Simcoe-Grey two per cent of the 129,940 uses the food bank (2,479 individuals visited a food bank in 2018 – 1,613 adults and 866 children, for a total of 14,902 visits.)
More than 507,000 adults, children, and seniors accessed a food bank in Ontario, visiting more than 3 million times.
Feed Ontario (formerly the Ontario Association of Food Banks) released a new study today, revealing that hunger and food bank use exist in every electoral riding in Ontario. The study, which examines food bank use data between January 1st – December 31st 2018, also reveals that Ontario’s food banks were accessed by 507,977 people who visited 3,033,970 times throughout the year – a three percent increase over 2017.
The study was completed in partnership with the Fleming College Geographic Information Systems (GIS) program and presents the findings on an interactive map that allows users to compare provincial electoral ridings across the province, including information on food bank use, mean and median income, and housing. The intention of the project is to help inform visitors to the website that hunger and poverty touch every corner of the province.
“In Ontario, someone visits a food bank every 10 seconds,” says Amanda King, Interim Executive Director at Feed Ontario. “And while food banks are doing their best to assist those in need in their communities, this is a growing problem – and one that needs to be addressed by long-term solutions to poverty.”
The three provincial ridings with the highest per capita rates of food bank use are: Ottawa–Vanier, Hamilton Centre, and Thunder Bay–Atikokan, which are served by the Ottawa Food Bank, Hamilton Food Share, and the Regional Food Distribution Association, respectively.