Community Food Banks need our support

Across Flamborough, throughout Waterdown, Carlisle, Millgrove, and Freelton, there is rich agricultural land. Our agricultural producers grow the safest, healthiest, and most delicious food we can eat, I support efforts to buy local. If you are able, I encourage everyone who is able to support our farmers via their respective (online) retail operations, roadside stands, and farmers’ markets.

However, sadly there are many in our community unable to buy a sufficient amount of healthy food for themselves and their family. In both Flamborough and Hamilton more broadly, hunger and food insecurity are on the rise - dramatically. Across the city, nearly 20,000 people access a food bank monthly. Of that number, more than 6,000 people are children. Moreover, Hamilton Food Share notes a steep increase in clients, as 40% more people are using food banks this summer than this time last year.

Recently, I was invited to tour the Flamborough Food Bank in Carlisle. Located at 1432 Centre Road, open Wednesdays from 9am-8pm, the operation consistently supports more than 150 families, including hundreds of children from the local area. Further, Food 4 Kids Hamilton is now supplying food packages to dozens of schools, including three in Ward 15, helping almost 1500 children who otherwise would be going hungry without their “Weekends Without Hunger” and “Summer” programs. In speaking with both directors and volunteers of the Flamborough Foodbank, the message was clear – people are struggling more now than ever, and more help is required to ensure our neighbours aren’t going hungry.

It’s apparent that Hamilton needs a long-term, sustainable strategy to support food banks and food insecure people. I have raised this important issue at Council. I’m hopeful efforts will be undertaken by the City to provide greater moral and financial support for our food banks. Many in our community routinely donate to support services, like those provided by Carlisle United Church and Grace Anglican in Waterdown. To you, I say thank you very much. No one in our community or broader Hamilton should go hungry in our land of plenty. By working together, we can make an important difference in the lives of others.

This article was also published in the Flamborough Review, August 17, 2023.