A Bigger Food Bank—and a Bigger Question

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An older taxpayer and a working parent review grocery costs and household bills, with a regional food distribution centre visible in the background.

Nanaimo has a new food centre worth celebrating. But its opening also raises a question: how many people can still afford to put food on their own tables?

Loaves & Fishes officially opened the Tom Harris Regional Food Centre on October 28. At 24,000 square feet, it is four times the size of its former Fry Street premises. Nearly 10,000 people have made about 100,000 visits to its Island food markets so far this year. Those are repeat visits—not 100,000 different people.

The staff, volunteers, donors and public partners deserve credit. The centre will recover more surplus food, reduce waste and improve distribution across Vancouver Island and coastal communities. Its size reflects that wider role as well as the need for assistance.

Helping people obtain food is an achievement. Having to depend on that help is another matter.

A recent national survey adds to the concern. Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab, working with Caddle Insights, surveyed 2,998 Canadians in September. It found that 32% reported using savings or borrowing money to buy food, up from 28% a year earlier.

That figure needs care. The online survey was not a random sample. Its public summary does not separate borrowing from savings withdrawals. A retiree drawing planned income from savings is in a different position from someone draining an emergency fund or carrying grocery debt.

We should not turn the finding into a claim that one-third of Canadians are borrowing to eat. But we should ask how many households are running out of room to manage.

Events overseas show why that cushion matters. Britain’s renewed preparedness campaign brought increased buying and some temporary shortages of individual products. In southern Italy, truckers’ blockades interrupted food deliveries, and shoppers buying extra made matters worse.

That does not mean Canada is heading for the same trouble. It does show how quickly a disruption can put pressure on everyday necessities. A household already struggling with groceries has fewer choices when another problem arrives.

Which brings us to governments.

When people are stretching savings or borrowing for food, governments should put every proposed tax, fee and spending increase through a simple test: What will it cost households, and what will they get for their money?

Public funding helped build Nanaimo’s new centre. That is a useful contribution. But governments must also answer for whether their wider policies make ordinary life more affordable.

Bigger budgets and new announcements cannot answer that question. What matters is what people have left after paying for housing, food, utilities and taxes.

Celebrate the new food centre and the people making it work.

Then ask governments for something equally worth celebrating: fewer households needing its help.

Points to Ponder

  • Are households becoming more financially secure—or simply finding new ways to get by?
  • How many people are exhausting savings or taking on debt for groceries?
  • How should governments measure whether their policies are making everyday life more affordable?

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