Food bank use is skyrocketing, but according to Algoma-Manitoulin MPP, Mike Mantha, inflation is not the root cause.
He says the recent Feed Ontario 2023 Hunger Report shows more than 800,000 Ontarians reached out to emergency food banks for support, with total visits climbing to over 5.9 million, a significant 36% increase from the previous year.
Closer to home, he says food banks in the riding served 3661 households, totalling 14,491 visits with 34 percent of those made by children.
Mantha adds in the riding, 2193 recipients count on disability monthly support of $1,308 and that includes rent adding the poverty rate is listed at 16 percent, and 19 percent of children live in poverty.
Mantha says the problem is not inflation, but wages which have not kept up with the cost of living. He’s calling on the Ford government to look at increases to help the average families in the riding.
