As food prices soar, communities find innovative ways to feed more people

Everything seems to be getting more expensive. Food, gas and housing prices are on the rise while paycheques are slow to keep pace. The CBC News series Priced Out explains why you're paying more at the register and how Canadians are coping with the high cost of everything.

Rapidly rising food prices are putting a strain on household budgets, forcing more people to turn to their communities for their next meal, and grassroots groups are stepping up in new ways to help. 

Food prices jumped six and half per cent in January 2022 — the biggest increase in more than a decade, according to Statistics Canada. Food Banks Canada says a combination of high housing costs, pandemic job losses and rising food costs has forced more people to use food banks.

The group's latest national data shows 20 per cent more people visited a food book during the pandemic, with 1.3 million people visiting in March of 2021 alone. That's the largest increase since 2008.

In downtown Kitchener, Ont., a church parking lot has been transformed into a takeout spot providing meals for people in need.

"I come here every day, like, I don't have a lot of money," said Paul Jones who lost his job and relies on the Tiny Home Takeout program. "It helps because I don't get enough, you know, for the month, counting groceries."

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church used to serve from its basement, but when the pandemic hit, it switched to takeout. Its team makes 300 meals are made five nights a week with the help of olunteers in a newly renovated kitchen, led by a professional chef. People can choose from a menu with items such as pizza, salad and soup.

"You get the dignity of, you know, to be treated like you're in a restaurant," said client Henry Haskins. 

While some people pay what they can to help keep the program running, Father Toby Collins said he's seeing more in need of a free meal.

"There's this need for basic necessities that they used to be able to afford," he said. 

"It's just as important to be innovative about our ideas as it is about accomplishing the task of feeding people who go without food."

In Charlottetown, P.E.I.'s first community fridge is packed with free groceries and some prepared food. It sits inside a newly built shed in the parking lot of a bingo hall. For Kayla Baldwin, a college student on a tight budget, it's a lifeline.

"Lately food has been really expensive, especially if you're eating healthy," said Baldwin. "As a college student trying to pay [school] fees and stuff, it's also hard, for food and rent and everything else."

Fifteen-year-old Samel Sunil came up with the idea with his sister. He says with more people turning to the fridge for food, they've ensured it's stocked and open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so its users can help themselves whenever they need to.