Food bank use in midwestern Ontario seeing sustained increase in demand

The breadbasket of Ontario is seeing more people going hungry than ever before.

“We've seen an increase in total need going up about 13 to 15 per cent every year for the last number of years, and that's very disheartening to hear. I mean, that's in the number of seniors that we are serving, as well as children,” says Mary Ellen Zielman, Executive Director of the Huron County Food Distribution Centre.

The Huron County Food Distribution Centre provides food to 35 food banks and aid agencies in Huron and Perth County. They distributed over 1 million pounds of food last year, and this year is projected to be worse.

“Certainly, this year we'll also be exceeding that amount,” says Zielman.

In Wingham food bank use has more than doubled over the past decade, with most of that increase happening in the past few years.

“Ten years ago, we were seeing around 110, 130 families in a month. Now we are seeing closer to 250 families here at our food share in a month. So that takes a lot more food to make that happen, and a lot more money to make the grocery shopping happen that we need to do here, month to month,” says North Huron Food Share Co-Ordinator, Roxane Nicholson.

North Huron Food Share in Wingham had 80 kids per month served in 2022, 180 kids per month served in 2024, pictured in November 2024 (Scott Miller/CTV News London)

At Listowel’s Salvation Army, they’re feeding 400 people a month.

“It's gone up at least 30 per cent in the last year. Just the need has definitely increased with rising food costs, and rising housing costs. People just aren't able to catch up,” says Listowel Salvation Army Food Bank Co-ordinator, Carolyn Saunders.

Even in places like Bayfield, they’ve added 30 new food bank clients this year, alone.

Bayfield Food Bank had 91 food bank users in 2024, 66 food bank users in 2023, seen in October 2024 (Scott Miller/CTV News London)

“We were approached by a single mom with two kids, and she works, but she needs to supplement her cupboard with some of the things that we offer,” says Bayfield Food Bank Co-ordinator, Claire Trepanier.

According to Huron-Perth’s many Food Bank volunteer co-ordinators, up to this point donations are largely keeping pace with demand - but how long much longer can the double digits increases in food bank users last?

“Every year for the last number of years we've been saying, you know, how are we going to meet the need for next year?.. And every year our community has been wonderful in sending in donations, and we've been able to achieve and send out what we has been requested of us to the food banks and aid agencies. So, we are very grateful for that. How much more can we keep doing that? How many more years? I don't know. We're just going one day at a time, one week at a time here, and doing what we can,” says Zielman.