Nearly 25 percent of British Columbians experienced food insecurity this year with the highest number of visits to food banks on record, and a 79 percent increase since 2019, according to a new report.
The Nov. 28 report from provincial non-profit organization Food Banks BC says that B.C.’s food bank system is nearing a “breaking point,” and is seeing a troubling rise in children and employed individuals using food banks.
The report notes 11 percent of B.C. food banks have had to turn people away this year after running out of supplies.
“The charitable system that props up this essential service is being pushed closer to breaking point, with the demand growing at a time when donations of food and funds continue to drop,” writes Food Banks BC Executive Director Dan Huang-Taylor in a foreword to the report. “Many charitable organizations, particularly in rural communities, are facing an existential crisis.”…