Soaring prices drive surge in Saskatoon food bank use, community kitchen need

With rising rent, inflation and the cost of groceries, more people in Saskatoon are turning to local food banks and community kitchens.

July inflation numbers from Statistics Canada show a 3.3 per cent rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) year-over-year.

But the price of groceries has gone up more, an 8.5 per cent increase from last year.

“It’s bad,” said Pat, a local shopper who is noticing the high prices for food.

As a recently retired senior on a fixed income, he says it’s getting tougher every day.

“The next step is food banks, but you hate to go to food banks because there’s somebody that really needs it.”

In the last year, both the Saskatoon Food Bank and Friendship Inn have seen sharp increases in the number of visitors, including first-time visitors.

“By the end of June 2023 we had over 400 thousand meals served here at the Friendship Inn,” said Sandra Kary, executive director. “That’s a 30 per cent increase from the year prior.”

The Saskatoon Food Bank says two of the last three months have seen record-setting numbers of people using their services.

“These are not the kind of records we want to be breaking,” said Laurie O’Connor, executive director at the Saskatoon Food Bank and Learning Centre.

She says another alarming trend is the number of people using their services for the first time.

When a normal month in 2023 saw around 450 new faces, the spring and summer months have been closer to 600.

With rising inflation, housing and grocery costs, the need in the community keeps growing.

“Food is the most immediate, emergent need,” said Kary. “So if you’re having a hard time paying bills or paying rent, that free meal service helps kick into play and so you can maybe stretch your dollar a bit farther.”

Despite running mostly on food or cash donations from the community, those dollars aren’t going as far as they used to.

“We do absolutely see the increase in prices for all of the other things that we need to keep our operations running,” said Kary. “It’s a growing concern, and when inflation hits, it goes through everything.”