The Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB) has released a report, Our Choice for a Better Ontario: A Plan to Cut Poverty in Half by 2020 (in PDF). The report includes thirty concrete recommendations including:

• establish a fair minimum wage that is permanently indexed to half of the average hourly wage;
• provide universal preventative health and dental benefit coverage to all low-income Ontarians;
• build 100,000 new units of affordable housing by 2020;
• build community food centres to build food security in remote reserve communities focusing on harvesting, preparation and consumption of local traditional foods;
• guarantee child care and access to any form of post-secondary education for all single parents in Ontario.

For more information read two stories in The Star, "'Time to be bold' in poverty fight" and "Ontario food banks seek 'guerrilla war' on hunger."

The Dietitians of Canada, BC Region have released a report, The Cost of Eating in BC that shows some people in BC are denied the right to safe and nutritious food due to poverty. The report calls for welfare rates to be based on actual living costs, an increase to the minimum wage, and government support for social housing and food security.

The Canadian Association of Food Banks has released their national yearly survey of emergency food programs in Canada. This annual survey documents the struggle of food banks to keep up with ever increasing demand. Read Hunger Count 2007 (in PDF) or Hunger Count 2007 Summary (in PDF) or go to the CAFB Reports page or CAFB Research page.

The Canadian Association of Foodbanks recent report, Hunger Count 2006 (in PDF) has found that though there has been an overall drop in overall use, more working poor and more children are relying on food banks. HungerCount is the only national survey of emergency food programs in Canada.

A little over a year ago the Ontario McGuinty Government cut the Special Diet Policy under which huge numbers of people on welfare were able to obtain a little more money for food each month. Previously the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) had been running community clinics where thousands of poor people were able to obtain the $250 a month entitled to them. In December with the help of the Health Providers Against Poverty, OCAP again started running the Special Diet clinics. If you are on welfare or disablity in Ontario take a look at the New Special Diet Tipsheet. Read an article in the Toronto Star, "Poverty is a Medical Condition," about the Special Diet clinics.

Bishop Gary Gordon, who recently moved to Whitehorse, believes that a food bank would be a large help to the community. He is working with local anti-poverty advocates urging the establishment of one. For more information, read the CBC North's news story on the subject.

As the cost of living in Toronto increased and the amount of income assistance available decreased, many of Ontario's poor were struggling to survive. However, through research, the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) discovered a government program called "The Special Diet Allowance." This program allowed people on income assistance to recieve extra money every month to help with their and their family's health. The Special Diet Allowance wasn't advertised by the government, so, the OCAP worked to sign people up for this allowance. Unfortunatley, after a few months the Ontario government changed the application requirements to make it harder to qualify for the Special Diet Allowance, claiming that people were cheating the system. For more information see The Dominion's news story on the Special Diet Allowance.

There were twice as many people using Iqualuit's food bank in the last year than in previous years. Food bank administrators are worried that they won't have enough food, if this many people continue to use the service. A CBC story on the Iqualuit food bank problem states some speculated reasons behind the increase.

A Whitehorse chatolic mission that originally opertated to give out emergency food to the city's needy has begun to operate as a food bank. As the numbers of people who came to recieve emergency food grew the mission tried to supply them with the food they needed, however, they no longer have the resources to continue. This made the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition set up a meeting on how to set up a proper food bank. Read a CBC story on Whitehorse's food bank need.

The Canadian Association of Food Banks/ Phones-for-food have developed a program which works towards both environmental and social causes. The project recycles old cell phones and uses the profit to support food banks. For more details read the CBC's consumer blog entry profiling the project.

More people are having to use PEI's food bank for people with HIV and AIDS. It is argued that this is a response to the increased cost of fuel which has forced many people on social assistance to spend their food and grooming allowances on rent and utility costs. This forces many of them to turn to food banks for their meals. For more detals there's a CBC's article regarding PEI's AIDS food bank.

HungerCount is a national survey of emergency food programs in Canada conducted by the Canadian Association of Food Banks (CAFB). The survey reveals trends in food bank use, such as the number of emergency food recipients each year, their demographic profiles, the ways in which local food banks meet the demand, and the amount of staff and volunteer time needed to run the food banks. The 2005 HungerCount (in PDF) is available from the CAFB.

The rising price of nutritious food is making it difficult for low income families to eat healthily. A doctor proposes ways in which government funding could be used to ensure the health of vulnerable populations.

The ODSP Action Coalition is made up of community clinic caseworkers, agency staff, and community activists who undertake campaigns and activities designed to raise awareness of issues affecting persons in receipt of Ontario Disability Support Program ("ODSP") benefits. Visit the ODSP Action website. The Toronto Social Services has a list of what is the allowed amount for special diets. The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) also has tips on how to get a dietary supplement if you are on OW or ODSP. With the support of health professionals, they have set up diet clinics and embarked on a Raise the Rates campaign.

With the increased cost of rent and utilities more people are having to rely on food banks. However, food banks in New Brunswick are having difficulty finding enough food for everyone during the period of time after christmas where donations decline. More information is available in a CBC news story.

The Canadian Association of Food Banks submission to the Standing Committee on Finance Hunger in Canada: The Federal Role in the Social Contract (in PDF) includes, among others, a recommendation that the right to food be enshrined in law. This submission used data from the 2004 Hunger Count report (in PDF) to build its arguments.

The issue of poverty must be placed onto the agendas of governments because, as the findings in the Hunger Count 2004 survey indicate, hunger, poverty and health are inextricably linked. The 2004 Hunger Count survey results (in PDF) provides more information about poverty in Canada.

The annual Hunger Count report revealed that the amount of people using food banks has greatly increased in the last year. Many people using the food banks are employed, but low income earners. The report equated the increased number of working food bank users with trend for many jobs to be below the living wage, and are available only on contractual or part time basis. The report also makes suggestions for how to remedy the situation. A CBC article on increased food bank use gives a brief survey of the Hunger Count results.

The first soup kitchen opened up in the small Manitoba city of Steinbach. Although poverty is perhaps most visible in large cities, the woman who opened the Steinbach soup kitchen says that poverty exists in smaller, rural areas, where there are fewer resources for the poor. The community has gotten behind the project and many groups have donated money, time, supplies and space to help feed Steinbach's hungry. For more information there's a CBC article profiling the soup kitchen project.

"My kids are supposed to grow up healthy yet I can't even afford to buy them food." A report by the Community Nutritionists Council of BC and Dietitians of Canada - BC Region, a low income family would need to spend up to 44% of their disposable income on a nutritious diet compared to the average Canadian spending 17%. The Cost of Eating in BC 2003 report (in PDF) profiles the struggles of many low-income families in BC. According to the 2003 report the monthly cost to feed a family of four increased by 9% since 2000 yet the income for the same family on income assistance declined by 6%. The Dietitions of Canada's press release provides an overview of the report.