While the rising cost of living is hitting many households hard, food banks in Quebec are struggling to meet demand. To give them some breathing room, the government will invest $34 million over the next five years to buy food and reduce waste.
This was announced by Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Minister André Lamontagne and Employment and Social Solidarity Minister Chantale Rouleau during a press conference in Montreal on Friday morning.
An initial payment of $6 million will be made immediately to Quebec’s network of grocery banks to replenish their shelves. An additional $8 million will be used over the next four years to “respond to food security-related issues in a coordinated and sustainable manner.”
“If the current amount allows us to respond to the emergency, we want to go beyond the one-off aid to better coordinate efforts in this area and integrate them into our poverty reduction strategies,” said Minister Rouleau.
According to the latest Bilan Faim report, Quebec’s food banks network currently serves more than 670,000 people per month, a 33% increase compared to the situation three years ago.
For the network’s chief executive, Martin Munger, the government’s financial support will allow food banks to stay afloat for the next few months.
“At a time when the demand for food aid has never been higher and inflation is leading to greater food insecurity, the amounts earmarked for grocery shopping will allow us to stock shelves with nutritious and varied produce for the months to come.” those who don’t have enough to eat,” he said in a press release.
In addition to the amounts earmarked for food purchases, the government will support food banks by paying them $20 million over the next four years to improve their storage infrastructure. The aim is to reduce food waste.
Since 2021 there has been a program specifically for the realization of such projects. Quebec estimates that 6.58 million kilograms of food were collected last year as part of the Supermarket Recovery Program (PRS), whose goal is that food is consumed and not thrown away or composted.
By 2025, the Quebec Food Banks Network hopes to recover more than seven million kilograms of food through this program.