Your Annual Food Bank Donation Is Nothing But a Band-Aid

As we head into the holidays, you've likely already dropped a can of chickpeas in an obnoxiously decorated cardboard bin in your local grocery store or used one to pay your way into a corporate party. Well, if you interpreted that gesture as a token of your own ability to fix the Canada's hunger problem, you may want to take a look at a recent study.

Food banks in Canada are providing users with only 9 percent of their dietary needs, according to a report released in December. The paper, published by Ontario-based campaign group Put Food in the Budget, claims that individuals going to Canadian food banks receive just 9.8 pounds of food per month. So what does that amount of food look like in real terms? A half-dozen eggs, a bottle of soda, a box of oatmeal, and seven canned goods—clearly not enough for a human to live off of for a month.

But according to Marzena Gersho, national director of communications for Food Banks Canada, food banks were never meant to meet all of the nutritional needs of their users. "Food banks are not a long-term solution and we've always, always communicated that," Gersho says. "But certainly for emergency food needs and for individuals that really have nowhere else to go, food banks are providing an important service."

Gail Nyberg, the executive director of Daily Bread Food Bank in Ontario, says that the goal with the hampers they give out through her organization is to provide two to three days of food and that they're meeting that goal. Put Food in the Budget's report claims that "typically a person can only go to a food bank once a month," but Nyberg says that for Daily Bread (a 140-agency organization), this number is wrong. She says most users are able to visit Daily Bread's food banks once per week. "It's a supplement—at no time was it ever intended to supply all the food needs of anyone."

Food banks operate heavily based on donations like the ones you've likely made when prompted (these account for 75 to 80 percent per year of Daily Bread's stock), especially during the holidays. Nyberg says that, annually, about 35 percent of donations at Daily Bread come from corporations. But, according to Put Food in the Budget's recently released report, the donations many corporations make are miniscule compared to food banks' needs. Of 12 of the most prominent corporate food drives in Canada (including those by Walmart, Loblaw Companies, and Campbells), an average of 4.43 lbs. (about $11, equaling to 1.5 days) of food was contributed to each individual using food banks per year.

Michael Balkwill, Put Food in the Budget's provincial organizer, says some of these companies could be doing other things to fight poverty. "In the grocery store sector—and grocery stores are very involved in food drives—the average income is $11 an hour," Balkwill says. "That's below the poverty line, so they can pay a living wage to their employees; that would make a difference."

While the report figures in dollar amounts corporations donate as well by equating them to food bought, Gersho says she thinks it doesn't show just how much of a difference these types of contributions can make. Last year, CBC's Sounds of the Season drive raised $600,000 to give to Canadian food banks. "In many respects, it helps to just keep the doors open: so it's paying the hydro bill, paying rent, a portion of keeping trucks on the road," Gersho says.

Additionally, she says, food banks have partnerships with retailers and restaurants that allow them to purchase food at a discounted price, rendering them able to stretch dollar amounts further. In that sense, monetary donations can be more effective than simply donating canned food. But, in the case of CBC's food drives, Gersho says it isn't just about physical donations.

"What CBC is doing is basically broadcasting to southern Ontario and raising awareness about the issue of hunger," Gersho says. "That communication value is something that we could never afford to do by putting out public service announcements or advertising."

Raising awareness and advocating for change to fight poverty at the governmental level is something that both Nyberg and Gersho agree has always been a part of food banks' mandates in Canada. Daily Bread was a lead organization that pushed for the Ontario Child Benefit program and they're currently pushing for a housing benefit. Gersho says, nationally, food banks fight for higher minimum wage, housing, and training for people who need employment.

Ultimately, Gersho says, food banks want people to be able to purchase their own food as a result of the policy changes they push for. "Any kind of policy change takes time; in the meantime, food banks are providing essential food right now to people that are hungry," she says.

After all, the problem here is not really food banks. In Canada, there isn't an issue with food supply itself—hunger and access to food is directly related to poverty. With nearly 15 percent of Canadians rating as low-income and with 1.7 million people using food banks per year in Canada, poverty and the hunger that results from it are clearly issues. So before you drop a can of tuna into a festive bin to feel a resounding karmic release, consider the fact that what you're doing isn't making that much of a difference in the grand scheme unless you do it in conjunction with a call for action.

Balkwill says that when people donate to a food bank, what they should do after is go home and call their MPP to ask if they're doing enough to fight poverty so that food banks don't need to exist. In the coming months, his organization is doing consultations in Ontario communities based on the numbers presented in their report. "We want people in communities to say to each other, 'This has been going on for 30 years. Do we want to do this for 30 more years or do we want to demand that our governments provide people with their needs to live a life of dignity?'" Balkwill says.

Follow Allison on Twitter.