Dartmouth’s food program reports a spike in demand

A non-profit organization in Dartmouth, NS, that helps lower-income people access food, says it is seeing a big increase in demand.

Wendy Fraser, executive director of The North Grove, told CBC’s Main Street Halifax on Tuesday that many of the people who attend the communal meals, use the subsidized produce market and trade cabinet have jobs – but don’t earn enough.

“I wish people had a guaranteed basic income that would be livable and I wish the comprehensive services were in place so that people had the guaranteed basic income they need to make life livable,” Fraser said.

The North Grove’s offers walk-in meals four times a week and serves 940 people in May. That is an increase of 45 percent compared to a year earlier, according to a press release issued on Tuesday.

The number of people accessing the subsidized fresh produce market was up 135 percent in May compared to the same month last year, the press release said. Last year, the weekly market served an average of 85 shoppers. In May, the weekly average was 200 people.

Those using the marketplace are also buying more products, the release said, forcing the organization to order 50 percent more products compared to January 2023.

Finally, the number of people using the trade cabinet, which offers non-perishable food, toiletries and diapers, has increased by 200 percent compared to last year.

The release stated that there were 50 visits to the closet in December, which is “a much-needed time of year.” But the numbers “have risen significantly each month since then, reaching an unprecedented 143 visits in May.”

said Fraser main Street people live in “much more poverty and so the need is greater.”

According to recent figures from Statistics Canada, nearly one in four people in Nova Scotia cannot consistently and reliably afford healthy, nutritious food.

‘A much bigger problem’

That data also indicated that the number of people living with food insecurity in Nova Scotia increased from 17 percent in 2021 to 22 percent in 2022.

“Everybody’s budgets have changed because of what’s happening with inflation. Personally, I think it’s our collective duty to make sure those of us who struggle the most aren’t left behind,” Fraser said.

“And so that would be my hope is that people think about ways they can contribute — not necessarily to The North Grove — to organizations that do this work, but also who they vote for [someone who is] I’m going to try to address this because I think it’s really a much bigger problem than something that can be solved by the non-profit sector.”