This story is the first part of an ongoing Global News series called Slammed: Montreal’s Food Bank Crisis, which explores how these non-profits are straining under increased need.
On Wednesday morning, with snow sprinkling the sidewalks, Kiranjeet Kaur Dhillon made her way to a Montreal food bank, her eight-year-old son in tow.
Dhillon was the last one in line, as she waited for her monthly food basket.
In a mix of Punjabi and English, and with the help of a translator at Ressource Action-Alimentation de Parc-Extension, Dhillon explained the food bank is her lifeline.
She left India just two weeks ago, hoping to fulfill her dreams.
“Good life and good study for children,” she said, are what drew her here.
Dhillon said her plan is to start learning French as soon as her son gets into school and then she’ll look for a job.
But in the meantime, getting by is a struggle. Without the food bank, Dhillon admits she wouldn’t be able to provide for her son.
For $5, she’s getting around $150 worth of groceries including fresh foods, dry goods and, as much as possible, culturally-appropriate foods.
“The way we see it, is that if we’re going to give somebody something that they’ve never seen before, it’s not going to end up helping them,” said Stephen Gilbert, co-coordinator of the food bank.
But resources, he said, are being stretched thin.
Demand for food assistance has increased twofold in the last two years.
“We can have days where 20 to 30 people will come in and ask if they can get a spot,” Gilbert said.
The organization does its best to help as many people as it can.
Clients used to get food baskets every two weeks. Now, it’s down to once a month for a maximum duration of 12 months.
“After 12, the person has to give up their spot and then they can come back in six months,” Gilbert said.
The reality is that the food bank only has the capacity to distribute 100 baskets every week — all by appointment. Others are turned away or directed to other resources.
Advocates say newcomers aren’t the only ones looking for help.
“We have a variety of people that use the food bank for various reasons,” said Monique Léger, the food bank’s director.
“We have precarious workers, we have pensioners and we have also people living on social assistance.”
Essentially, the common denominator is that people just don’t have enough income to make ends meet.
“We’re at a crisis and we’ve hit a wall,” Léger said.
Things only getting worse
Before the pandemic, Parc-Extension was already considered one of Canada’s poorest neighbourhoods and the poorest in the Greater Montreal area, according to a Centraide profile.
The situation has only gotten worse since, with food security experts blaming rising rent, inflation and low wages for the increase in demand for emergency food assistance.
“So people come to the food bank, actually to put more money in their pockets, because a lot of time, people that we meet, everything that they earn goes towards rent,” Léger said.
In addition to the food bank, Léger is part of the Parc-Extension food security reflection and action group.
The non-profits have come together to ask the government to take action.
“It’s very urgent,” Léger said of the unfolding crisis. “And the government needs to, to hear the message of community groups.”
Food banks not the solution
While the province set aside $30 million in its latest budget to help Quebec food banks, Léger said it isn’t enough to go around and meet growing demand.
“That represents help to 1,300 community groups, so you can imagine that very little, comes to Parc-Extension,” Léger said. “I think that it would probably be a better solution if community groups themselves had access to that funding because they actually work in, in neighborhoods and they understand the needs of the population.”
Meanwhile, both she and Gilbert argued that while funding food banks is necessary, it’s not a solution to the current food crisis and that hunger will persist unless underlying issues are addressed.
“The solution is that that we need to redistribute the wealth within the society, and workers need to earn more, and pensioners and also people living on social assistance,” Léger said.
— With files from Global News’ Gloria Henriquez
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