‘Everything has been sliding downhill:’ Foodbanks feeling holiday pinch

Volunteers spent much of Thursday handing out holiday hampers to those in need.

The demand for Parker Street annual holiday hampers has increased significantly in recent years.

The non-profit opened the doors to the Halifax Forum to hand out nearly 1,000 hampers, each filled with vegetables, stuffing, bread, fruit and a turkey to take home.

“Inflation has increased the cost of goods, including food, so people are accessing food banks in a way that they might not have 20 years ago,” said long-time volunteer Andrew Cogswell. “Everything has been sliding downhill for families.”

Cogswell said that when he first started volunteering over two decades ago, the group handed out 20 hampers for those in need.

This year, demand pushed the group to hand out 1,000.

According to the non-profit, that demand for food has been derived out of an increased price of food at the checkout.

Statistics Canada reported a 4.7 increase in grocery prices between October and November. Fresh vegetables, processed meat, and fish all jumped in at that time.

The 2024 Food Price Report from von Massow and other Canadian researchers published earlier this month projects that costs will rise an average of 2.5 to 4.5 per cent in the new year, below the five to seven per cent expectations for 2023.

“Oftentimes we have a lot of families that don’t have anything at this time,” said Denise Daley, the Foodbanks executive director in an interview with Global News on Thursday. “We’re seeing that increase in the number of applications. We closed it on December 1st, and we’re still seeing inquiries about our Christmas program.”

In addition to the hampers, the group handed out hundreds of donated toys ahead of the Christmas season.

The group served 12,000 people in 2023.