Media
Coldest Night of the Year
CP24
February 24, 2024
Interview with Julie Lejeune
What food banks need from you
Dilshad Burman, CityNews
December 11, 2023
The Daily Bread Food Bank’s annual report says 1-in-10 Torontonians now rely on their food banks – double the number from 2022.
Sounds of the Season
David Common, CBC
December 8, 2023
After photos of lineups put Fort York Food Bank in the headlines, founder asks what kind of city we want to be.
A tale of two bread lines gives us food for thought
Andrew Phillips, Toronto Star
October 31, 2023
In my neighbourhood, there two lineups for bread, one at a trendy bakery, the other at a food bank. Guess which one is longest — by far?
Food bank visits in the GTA are up 51% from last year, Daily Bread says
Ethan Lang, CBC
September 23, 2023
Daily Bread hoping to raise $3.8M, collect tens of thousands in donations by Oct. 31
‘This is a system that’s breaking’: Toronto food bank lineups swell as grocery prices spike
Dhriti Gupta, The Toronto Star
May 13, 2023
On Saturday mornings, Maggie Herdman, 31, leaves her home near Jane and Eglinton at 6 a.m. to commute nearly an hour to the Fort York Food Bank. Once there, it can take up to four hours before it’s her turn to shop inside the small College Street storefront.
Inflation pushing the ‘working poor’ to rely on food banks
Tessa Bennett, Humber News
May 12, 2023
The Fort York Food Bank (FYFB) on College St. in Toronto has seen lines of hundreds of people over the last few months. These lines were formally made up of the elderly, and people who were facing housing insecurity.
Viral video of hundreds in line at Fort York Food Bank not surprising to operators
Shauna Hunt and Meredith Bond, City News
May 10, 2023
Almost every day of the week, hundreds of people wait hours in lineups that span an entire city block to collect food at Toronto’s Fort York Food Bank.
GTA food banks face surging demand in 2023
Global News
May 4, 2023
Food banks across the city have seen demand levels rise exponentially. Food inflation has been one of the predominant factors fueling this growth.
Some Canadians live large courtside, others at the food bank
Joe Warmington, Toronto Sun
May 3, 2023
Some Canadians travel in motorcades or sit in floor seats at NBA playoff games, while others stand in line at the food bank. While that is not new in a coveted, free, democratic, and capitalist society, what seems to be — thanks to social media — is Canada’s have and have-not reality.
‘The struggle is real in Toronto’: Dozens of people gathered outside a food bank and people are calling out all levels of government
Osobe Waberi, NOW Toronto
May 3, 2023
A video is going viral on Twitter showing people in Toronto gathering outside a food bank for a chance to pick up some free groceries in the midst of rising costs.
Daily Bread food bank warns Toronto is facing a food insecurity crisis
Drew Chambers, Humber News
Apr 4, 2023
The head of Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank warns his agency is almost at a breaking point. “In March of 2023, the Daily Bread Food Bank saw 270,000 clients visit,” Neil Hetherington said at a Tuesday morning press conference. “That is the most ever recorded in our history.”
‘At a breaking point’: Toronto food bank visits reach record levels
Hannah Jackson, Global News
Apr 4, 2023
Food banks in Toronto are demanding action from the provincial government after a record-number of visits in March, saying the food charity system is “at a breaking point.”
Here And Now Toronto With Gill Deacon Radio Interview:Food bank usage expected to increase 60% in 2023: report
CBC
Jan. 12, 2023
Food bank usage is expected to see a 60 per cent increase in 2023, according to a new report from food rescue organization Second Harvest. A number of factors are driving the increased demand, including inflation and wages that aren’t keeping up with the cost of living.
The alarm bells on poverty levels have been ringing — are the mayor and Toronto councillors listening? "Now we're in a crisis"
Gill Deacon, Scarborough Mirror
Dec. 06, 2022
Social Planning Toronto has been working with front-line service providers who are supporting communities that have been devastated by the pandemic, as well as ongoing poverty and inequality. This op-ed is part of a series highlighting urgent issues affecting communities, the pathways to a just and equitable recovery and priorities the mayor and new city council must focus on.
Here And Now Toronto With Gill Deacon Radio Interview: The growing lines at the Fort York Food Bank in Toronto
Gill Deacon, CBC
Nov. 29, 2022
We are sharing stories about the growing need for hunger relief in Toronto, as part of programming for Sounds of the Season - CBC Toronto’s annual fundraiser for food banks. Gill Deacon stopped by the Fort York Food Bank to find out who's coming in and to see how the food bank is coping with the growing demand.
Food bank use triples, hits record almost every month: Daily Bread Food Bank
Scott Laurie, The Toronto Sun
Sep 27, 2022
Food bank use across Toronto has tripled from levels before the pandemic – and demand has reached record highs almost every month this year, according to the Daily Bread Food Bank.
‘It’s terrible.’ Buying groceries increasingly more difficult for many Torontonians
Alessia Passafium, The Toronto Star
Sept. 21, 2022
Already in 2021, almost six million Canadians were living in food-insecure households, including 1.4 million children, according to Leila Sarangi, national director of Campaign 2000, a coalition of groups working to end child and family poverty.
GTA food banks say they're facing the highest demand in their history
Talia Ricci, CBC News
Sep 18, 2022
Food banks across the GTA are noticing a steep rise in working class families using their services and they say the record numbers they're seeing are extremely concerning.
Canada's inflation rate inches up again, to new 31-year high of 6.8%
Pete Evans, CBC News
May 18, 2022
The cost of living continues to rise at the fastest pace in decades, with Canada's official inflation rate rising at a 6.8 per cent annual pace in April, a new 31-year high.
Toronto food banks face empty shelves amid record demand, advocates warn
Clara Pasieka, CBC News
Apr. 26, 2022
Thanks to a desperate plea for donations and a huge response from the community, the food bank now has enough supplies to open its doors at College Street west of Bathurst Street as usual Tuesday. But it doesn't have enough to serve the number of clients staff expect to show up.
Toronto Community Rallies to Make Sure Food Bank Opens With Full Shelves
By Katherine DeClerq, CTV Toronto News
Apr. 25, 2022
A local Toronto food bank scheduled to open its doors Tuesday for the first time since the pandemic began almost did so with empty shelves until the community, including a city councillor, rallied to help
A Toronto food bank is in desperate need of donations as demand rises
Brooke Taylor, Daily Hive
Apr. 25, 2022
The food bank is out of many basic items like pasta and pasta sauce, tuna, canned vegetables and beans, and they are asking people to help out by donating these items.
Hard to Stomach: Canadians’ grocery bills have risen sharply year over year. How do families cope?
Jacob Lorinc, Toronto Star
Dec. 18, 2021
Six months ago, the Anjum family was forced to start going to a food bank for their fruit and produce. They joined the Fort York Food Bank in downtown Toronto, one of several in Ontario reporting a 10 per cent rise in usage during the first year of the pandemic.
“We set up our synagogue in the park wading pool”: This rabbi held in-person services for the first time in nine months
By Aaron Levy, Toronto Life
Aug. 04, 2021
Rabbi Aaron Levy founded Makom, a community of Jewish downtowners, in 2009. During the pandemic, its prayer services and other programs went virtual. Now, the community is finally celebrating face-to-face again.
Food banks coping with surge in customers amid massive job losses
By Brian Bradley, Toronto Star
May. 20, 2020
Before the outbreak, their clients could enter the church and get their meals inside. But since safety measures now require social distance, they line-up outside on the street along Cosburn Avenue, waiting for the food bank to open at 1:15 p.m.
Star reader helps food bank get working oven, start ‘chain effect of kindness’
By Brian Bradley, Toronto Star
Dec. 21, 2019
It all started with a Santa Claus Fund story in November, which highlighted the work of the food bank and their challenges preparing meals in their College Street space that lacked a working industrial oven. The agency’s minimal budget just covers rent and one salary, and nothing is left over for repairs. An anonymous reader spotted the story, reached out and offered to find a company that could repair the oven and pick up the tab.
Celebrity Chefs Fighting Hunger - Downtown Luxury Hotel Gives Back to Community with Celebrity Chef Dinner
Chef Alex Chen from Vancouver's Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar, Chef Antonio Park from Montreal's Park Restaurant, collaborated with The Ritz-Carlton, Toronto Executive Chef Paul Shewchuk and Executive Pastry Chef Gael Moutet for an exclusive dinner where all proceeds are being donated to the Fort York Food Bank (FYFB). The FYFB provides hot meals and groceries to families in the downtown Toronto area.
Fort York Food Bank provides not only hot meals, but helps connect its youngest clients with Santa Fund
By Brian Bradley, Toronto Star
Nov. 16, 2019
In addition to the clients who come in for hot food, up to 100 others — estimated to be from 95 to preteen in age — come for the food box program, four days a week, to get a box (“hamper” in food bank parlance) stuffed with three days’ worth of food supplies, though availability varies based on the season.
Fort York Food Bank seeking new location
By Tamar Harris, Staff Reporter, The Toronto Star
Jan. 2, 2018
The Fort York Food Bank is looking for a new location after its current lease near Bathurst and Dundas Sts. expires at the end of February. The food bank, which serves about 1,000 people a month, is reaching out to elected officials and community partners for help.
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