Food bank use has increased 13 percent in 2012, says Farm Credit Canada CEO Greg Stewart
Those who grow food in Canada might be surprised to learn that 900,000 of their fellow citizens use food banks each month.
They might also be surprised that 600 food banks are located in rural areas, where it’s easy to see the abundance of food being grown.
Farm Credit Canada last week launched its annual campaign to collect food and raise money for food banks.
Chief executive officer Greg Stewart said the agricultural lender has an obligation to give back to the community, and collecting food is an obvious choice.
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“It’s just not right in any country that any child deserves to go hungry,” he told reporters at the launch.
“So we’re trying to do our part with the agricultural community to try and make a difference.”
The program was launched in 2004 when an FCC employee from Ontario drove a tractor and trailer in the Listowel area for eight days and collected 60,000 pounds of food.
The program has since brought in nearly eight million pounds.
This year’s goal is to collect one million pounds of food and $500,000.
FCC presented $50,000 to Food Banks Canada at the Sept. 18 campaign kickoff. Half of that will be dedicated to the organization’s rural support program.
Part of the campaign involves driving a tractor and trailer through various communities to collect food and cash. A drive through Regina will happen Oct. 11, followed by Assin-iboia, Moose Jaw and Weyburn in Saskatchewan the week of Oct. 15.
The Alberta tour includes Camrose, Paradise Valley, Lloydminster, Vegreville, Mannville, Stettler, Vermilion and Drumheller from Oct. 16-18.
Tours are also taking place in Ontario, New Brunswick and Quebec.
Bill Hall, executive director of Food Banks Saskatchewan, said nearly half of food bank users in Canada are children and seniors. In rural areas, about 41,000 children and seniors use a food bank each month.
“That’s discouraging when you contemplate the wealth of our nation,” he said.
Stewart said food bank use has increased 13 percent in the last year.
“It would be nice to say it could come to an end,” he said.
The Drive Away Hunger national campaign includes corporate partners BDO, Cargill Ltd., Parrish and Heimbecker Ltd. and Windset Farms.
Glenn Houser, Cargill’s farm service group manager for the Qu’Appelle region, said Cargill sees its participation as a way to make Canada more food secure.
Employees of FCC, its partners and other organizations will be collecting food and money from Sept. 24 to Oct. 19.
Food on the “most wanted” list includes pasta products, rice, canned meat and fish, dry and canned soups and stews, canned fruit and vegetables, flour, cereal, peanut butter, canned and powdered milk, fruit juice, pasta sauce, beans and legumes, and infant formula and baby food.
More information can be found at www.fccdriveawayhunger.ca.
