There are many heartbreaking tales behind the record number of Canadians using food banks as they struggle with high inflation and mounting housing costs, says a Vancouver food bank executive.

SA国际影视传媒淲e see parents who are skipping meals so that their children can eat. We see people who havenSA国际影视传媒檛 eaten in days. We see seniors who havenSA国际影视传媒檛 had produce in months,SA国际影视传媒� said Cynthia Boulter, chief operating officer with Greater Vancouver Food Banks.

More and more people are accessing its services each year, and with greater frequency than in the past, Boulter said, as low wages and high rents squeeze people between inflation and other rising costs.

Boulter said the SA国际影视传媒渦nprecedented, record-breaking timesSA国际影视传媒� are being felt by food banks across the country, where nearly two million people visited in the month of March, 32 per cent more than the same month the year before, and a 78 per cent increase compared with March 2019.

The numbers, contained in Food Banks CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 annual Hunger Count report, highlight how Canadians are more food insecure than ever before as governments have seemingly ignored SA国际影视传媒渂laring alarm bells,SA国际影视传媒� the report said.

The data was collected from food banks across Canada, and this yearSA国际影视传媒檚 Hunger Count, as well as other studies, show more and more Canadians are SA国际影视传媒渟truggling to pay for basic expenses, and that levels of food insecurity are rising dramatically.SA国际影视传媒�

Seniors, single mothers, low-income workers, people on social assistance, and immigrants continue to drive food bank use, but this yearSA国际影视传媒檚 report showed a rise in use among working people in higher income brackets.

More than 40 per cent of users are on provincial social assistance programs, the report said, with stagnant payments that put most recipients under the official poverty line.

Indigenous people are disproportionately represented among food bank users at 12 per cent, while making up around five per cent of the general population, the report said.

More than a quarter of food bank users are immigrants who have been in Canada for less than a decade, the report said, a usage rate that has doubled since 2016.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 one thing to look at a report filled with these big numbers,SA国际影视传媒� said Food Banks CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 CEO Kirstin Beardsley. SA国际影视传媒淏ehind every single one of these numbers is a person, and I know what it takes for someone to get to the point where theySA国际影视传媒檙e turning to a food bank for help, and so you replicate that two million times in a single month and itSA国际影视传媒檚 heartbreaking.SA国际影视传媒�

Beardsley said that those in the food bank sector across the country say the explosive growth in usage numbers are SA国际影视传媒渦nsustainable.SA国际影视传媒�

Political action, she said, means that governments need to make SA国际影视传媒渓ong term social policy investments,SA国际影视传媒� from action on affordable housing to increasing fixed income rates.

SA国际影视传媒淭hese are investments in our ability to thrive as a nation,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

As the affordability crisis has intensified, Beardsley said, people who work at food banks SA国际影视传媒渜uite frankly, are shouldering too much of this burden.SA国际影视传媒�

Food bank usage is a SA国际影视传媒渜uiet problemSA国际影视传媒� where many people SA国际影视传媒渟uffer in silence,SA国际影视传媒� she said, and only widespread public outrage will drive the political courage to create meaningful change.

SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檙e not talking about a small investment in the future of this country,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淲hat really drives political courage, to be honest, is everyday folks like you and I getting mad enough to make this a ballot issue, to make this an issue at the election, to not let our elected officials at every level of government off the hook anymore.SA国际影视传媒�

Even as the report paints a grim picture, Beardsley said food banks remain places of SA国际影视传媒渉ope,SA国际影视传媒� where communities come together to lift up those in need.

For those in the food bank sector to be ultimately successful would mean no more need for them, and theySA国际影视传媒檙e essentially hoping to work themselves SA国际影视传媒渙ut of a job,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

Until then, Beardsley said, SA国际影视传媒渢hereSA国际影视传媒檚 no choice but to keep raising our voices, telling our stories, sharing the data, and if weSA国际影视传媒檝e got a whole country behind us, I donSA国际影视传媒檛 think we can be ignored.SA国际影视传媒�