The Ottawa Food Bank says it will reduce the amount of food it provides to programs in its network in order to cope with rising costs and growing demand for its services.
Food bank CEO Rachael Wilson says 98 programs will receive between 20 and 50 percent less food than in previous years.
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Wilson presented the move as necessary because rising costs have prevented the organization from purchasing the same amount of food as before.
Yet she says use of food banks 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 that 40 percent of food banks in her organization’s network reported turning away clients every week 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 support visits each year.
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