“A recent report from Food Banks Canada is warning of some dire times still to come thanks to a volatile combination of “high housing costs, pandemic job losses, rising food costs and an anticipated further pull-back on government supports,” ….this is creating a “perfect storm” that has Canada’s food banks bracing for a massive wave of new clients in the months to come.”
– Excerpt from Rita DeMontis Article, “Canada’s Facing the Perfect Storm of a Food Crisis in the Coming Months”, Toronto Sun, November 6th, 2021
THE SUDDEN SHOCK OF NOT KNOWING WHERE YOUR NEXT MEAL IS COMING FROM
According to Food Banks Canada, “Each year in Canada, more than 2.7 million Canadians living with food insecurity don’t know where their next meal is coming from.” In 1950s Halifax, my grandfather and my mother were two such souls.
Through the 1940’s, while raising my Mom, my grandmother fought a long and valiant battle with Multiple Sclerosis. My mother recalled to me many times her memory of coming home from school, only to find my grandmother lying on the floor, unable to get up, after yet another fall.
Not wanting Mom to be afraid, my grandmother would say, “Go get a pillow, a blanket and a story book, dear. We’ll snuggle up here until your father gets home.” When Mom would ask, “Are you ever going to get better, Mommy?”, my grandmother would reply, “When pigs fly, dear, when pigs fly.”
Then, on one fateful day, my mother returned home from school and discovered that her beloved Mom had passed away. One last time, Mom laid down by her mother’s side to snuggle her, until my Grampy finally got home.
It was November 1949 when that tragedy befell my dear mother and grandfather. My Mom was only 7 years old. When I think of it, to this day, my heart hurts and my eyes burn with tears. I almost can’t bear to think of it. And the trials were only beginning.
Mom recalled waking up in the middle of the night, near Christmas. She went out to find my grandfather standing in front of the Christmas tree, sobbing. Not only had he lost his beloved “Rosie”, he was about to lose even more.
When my grandfather returned home from World War II, he decided to open a flower shop, just off of Barrington Street in downtown Halifax. It was called The Rose Bowl, and Mom remembered that Grampy would always pin a pink carnation to her lapel when she visited him there. Those were happy, hope-filled days.
But, at that time in Nova Scotia, there was no MSI, they had no health insurance and the bills for my grandmother’s medical care were exorbitant. After my grandmother’s death, Grampy lost his beloved Rose Bowl, to pay those bills. Suddenly, he and my mother were forced into the vicious cycle of poverty and food insecurity, with no food bank in sight.
Mom used to tell me that even though they would have to decide between bread and milk each week, God always took care of them, and they miraculously had just enough to eat. She said that’s why she always loved hearing the story of Moses and the Israelites receiving manna from heaven; she felt that God was sending them “manna” each week. If the COVID-19 global pandemic has taught us anything, it might be the reality that any one of us can lose everything without warning, and be in need of food assistance, just like that. Just like my Mom and grandfather.
According to the Food Banks Canada Hunger Count 2021, food bank usage in Nova Scotia has gone up 1.8% and in P.E.I. a whopping 9.5%.
As people of faith, with untold assets to utilize at the parish level (human, material, spiritual, worship and other gatherings, websites, newsletters, social media), we are uniquely positioned to deepen our presence and amplify our voice in the fight for food justice and security. According to all the reports I’ve read, beyond giving food and monetary donations, the most impactful thing we can do is join the fight for policy change, learn how to be effective allies and advocates.
WHAT YOU/YOUR PARISH CAN DO
According to FEED Nova Scotia (https://www.feednovascotia.ca/hungry-for-change/advocate), these are some of the many ways that you and your parish can help, especially in the New Year, when donations slow:
Invest time in learning about food insecurity.
Challenge the assumptions you and other people have about those who are food insecure.
Share what you learn and engage people in conversation.
Acknowledge that food is not the solution to food insecurity. Food support is critical to meeting the immediate need for food, but only bold policy intervention will create lasting change.
Show our elected officials that food insecurity is a priority for you and for the health of neighbours and communities and hold them accountable for leading the change.
Reach out to another community group and work together.
WRITE A LETTER/ LEAD A LETTER-WRITING CAMPAIGN
Check out the Canadian Foodgrains Bank Online Letter Generator
https://foodgrainsbank.ca/online-letter/READ
READ
November 6th, 2021 Toronto Sun Article by Rita DeMontis
https://torontosun.com/life/food/canadas-facing-the-perfect-storm-of-a-food-crisis-in-coming-months
WATCH
Jasmine Crowe TEDWomen Talk 2019 | What we’re getting wrong in the fight to end hunger
GO DEEPER
Walk in the Shoes of Three Canadians Facing Food Insecurity
https://foodbankscanada.ca/impossiblechoices/index.html
https://www.feednovascotia.ca/hungry-for-change/stories
Food Banks Canada Annual Hunger Count Report 2021
https://hungercount.foodbankscanada.ca/
Food Banks Canada 2021 Annual Report, “Addressing Food Insecurity From Coast to Coast”
https://www.foodbankscanada.ca/getmedia/f7abd8a6-56a9-4915-b37d-34cd98ed420a/Annual-Report_FINAL-EN.aspx
A Snapshot of Food Banks in Canada and the COVID-19 Crisis
https://www.foodbankscanada.ca/FoodBanks/MediaLibrary/COVID-Report_2020/A-Snapshot-of-Food-Banks-in-Canada-and-the-COVID-19-Crisis_EN.pdf
The Cost of Poverty in the Atlantic Provinces
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives April 2021
https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Nova%20Scotia%20Office/2021/04/Cost%20of%20poverty%20in%20Atlantic%20provinces%20CCPA.pdf
Find a Food Bank in Your Area, Each Out + Offer to Host a Community Circle Education Evening in the Parish
https://foodbankscanada.ca/utility-pages/find-a-food-bank.aspx
I’ll see you back here in the January Issue, where I’ll continue my exploration of public theology, with a story about the former Bishop in Jerusalem, the Rt. Rev. Riah Abu El-Assal.
