Edmonton's Food Bank cuts back on food hampers due to soaring demand

Edmonton's Food Bank is stretched thin and is reducing the food it gives out in its popular hamper program as demand continues to rise.

Edmontonians using the hamper program will now only be allowed a maximum of three boxes of food per request, rather than four. The new limit, and the reasons for it, are detailed on the food bank's website.

Most people using the hamper program make one or two requests per month, according the the food bank.

"It's just the volume of people needing this service and the high cost of food is just creating a crunch," Marjorie Bencz, executive director of Edmonton's Food Bank, told CBC Wednesday. 

"We're hoping we can maintain the nutrition going to the families ... and still have quality going out to the families but less volume going out."

Toward the end of 2022, the food bank was serving around 35,000 people a month through the hamper program, Bencz said. 

Bencz said that people are still being generous with donations, but it's simply not enough to handle the sheer volume of requests. Cutting service is not a decision she took lightly, she said. 

To help ease the stress, the Alberta government committed a total of up to $20 million for food banks across the province late last year. This year, that translates to $280,000 for Edmonton's Food Bank  — only enough to supply the food bank with groceries for one month, Bencz said.

"As you can see, $280,000 for an organization that's serving the number of people that we're serving is just, it's problematic," she said.

When asked if the government was providing enough support to residents and food banks, a spokesperson for the province pointed to the government's affordability measures. 

Food Banks Alberta CEO Arianna Scott said food bank user numbers have been on the rise for some time. 

"We know that the cost of groceries has gone up, we know that the cost of transportation has gone up, we know within our own organization that we used to have an average of 35 food banks accessing food from our warehouse every month," Scott said.  

"We're currently averaging somewhere between 67 and 70 members a month accessing food from our warehouse."

Scott said that solving the problem is not simple. 

"Food banks in general do what they can with what they have," she said. 

"We know that food banks are not the answer to food insecurity but we are certainly a piece of the puzzle in that we address urgent need."

She said long-term solutions have to involve collaboration and permanent solutions to lifting people out of poverty.