Ottawa Food Bank reducing food sent to agencies because of mounting costs
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.99/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/01/2025 (439 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The Ottawa Food Bank says it will reduce the amount of food it provides to programs within its network as it copes with increasing costs and growing demand for its services.
The food bank’s CEO Rachael Wilson says 98 programs will receive between 20 and 50 per cent less food than they have in past years.
Wilson positioned the move as necessary because rising costs have left the organization unable to purchase the same amount of food as before.
Pallets of non-perishable food, a quantity estimated to last only a month, are seen in the shipping room at the Ottawa Food Bank warehouse in Ottawa is seen on Thursday, April 23, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Yet she says food bank usage is at an all-time high in Ottawa, with the number of visits to the organization increasing by more than 90 per cent since 2019.
She estimates 40 per cent of food banks in her organization’s network reported turning people away on a weekly basis due to capacity last year.
The Ottawa Food Bank distributes more than 4.4 million kilograms of food from its Bantree Street warehouse each year and says it receives 556,000 visits for support annually.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 11, 2025.