Kingston, Ont. food services feeling the squeeze

With inflation and pandemic-related stresses, food banks and food sharing services all over are feeling the pressure with no signs of relenting.

There’s no question that, between inflation and the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity has become a larger issue over the course of the past few years.

Lines at drop-in lunches have gotten longer, while food banks have had to hustle to keep up with demand.

“This past year was a record year for us. We handed out over 16,000 food hampers and that’s 7,273 people in the Kingston area we helped,” said Dan Irwin, executive director for Kingston’s Partners in Mission Food Bank.

He said it’s the first time they’ve served more than 7,000 people in a year, and it signals what he says is a “very tough point in Ontario.”

One of the turning points came with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With many people out of work, Irwin said that many sought out help in a place they’d never had to turn to before: the food bank.

He also said that crisis is only worsening with skyrocketing inflation.

“Right away people can see on the shelves we’ve got a food inflation factor going on. That’s a known,” he said.