‘It’s only going up’: Lanark County Food Bank feeling the pinch of inflation, rising food costs

By Perushka Gopalkista

Residents are continuing to feel the impact of food inflation, which may cause residents to turn to their local food banks. 

Over in the Valley, the Lanark County Food Bank is seeing a higher number of people rely on the organization than it did in the years prior. 

Karen Lomas, the board chair, told CityNews this year alone, more families have relied on the organization compared to this time last year. 

“Currently, as of the end of August, we've served 8,212 people,” she said. “Last year, it was 6,200 people for the same time frame.” 

Lomas said that the cost of food needed for the organization has nearly doubled. She anticipated that those costs went up by at least 30 per cent in addition to the number of people who are relying on the organization. 

The items which are mostly in demand are milk, but fresh food items such as eggs, cheese, and meat continue to be the priority. Non-perishables products are always items that Lanark County Food Bank is looking for and are easier to distribute, she said. 

Monetary donations have dropped slightly, she noted, which is not unusual for this time of year, which she said can be attributed to people returning to work and school in the fall. 

But in the winter season, those numbers tend to grow.

“Starting around Thanksgiving, things start to pick up, and people are incredibly generous and we couldn't do it without them obviously.” 

She added that the number of new families every month has also increased from 14 to now 30. 

While the organization is not seeing any challenges right now, she noted that supply issues were something that the organization had to overcome over the last months, saying that they couldn't buy any items in bulk if they needed to. But she explained things are looking up. 

“But that was a few months ago, now it's much better,” she said. “We're seeing that (things) are starting to flow much better, so that helps.” 

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today