The winter season is the most fulfilling and stressful time of the year for many food assistance organizations — but transitioning out of the holiday season proves to be a difficult adjustment.
The Ottawa Food Bank receives 50 per cent of its donations during the winter holiday season, according to Farah Mustafa, the food bank’s communications manager. Coming out of the winter months, those donations are stored and carefully distributed so the food bank can keep meeting community needs during the spring.
“To make sure that we’re able to sustain our commitment to the network of agencies we work with throughout the year, we do make sure that we distribute the food accordingly,” Mustafa said.
Carleton University’s Unified Support Centre (USC) suffers from a similar seasonal decline in support.
Neeharika Saha, services fulfillment and development supervisor at the USC, said only about 115 items were received at a recent food drive in February.
“We held [a food drive] for a conference that Carleton was holding, and I think we only received like 100 or 115 items,” Saha said. “It was a food insecurity conference, so that kind of speaks volumes.”
In contrast, the USC received more than 700 items through donation bins and food drives over the last holiday season.
To cope with the post-holiday decline, the USC has to purchase items to put in its hampers rather than simply relying on donations. The hampers contain food and other essential items and are given to students upon request year-round to combat food insecurity.
“It’s always difficult to see how much we’re spending, mostly because we don’t entirely have the budget for it. But it helps people in the end, so it’s a thing that we have to do,” Saha said.
Food banks are more reliant on donations than ever during the increased strain on its services. In response, organizations are calling on governments to ramp up funding for their in-demand services.
“Our government needs to step up,” Mustafa said. “Our calls to declare a food insecurity crisis have gone unanswered … This is a crisis unlike any we’ve seen in our 40-year history.”
In a food insecurity crisis, even the most hopeful time of year posed challenges for local food assistance organizations.
Managing a food insecurity crisis during the holidays
For many Canadians, the colder months mean extra spending on outdoor gear, holiday gifts and heating. For the 25 per cent of Canadian students experiencing food insecurity, the winter season makes it tougher to put food on the table.
Paired with the increasing cost of living, the food insecurity crisis looms even larger. According to the Ottawa Food Bank’s 2024 annual report, one in four Ottawa households are food insecure — a jump from one in seven in 2022.
The holiday season translated to less funding available to lower-income people for groceries, putting additional pressure on food assistance resources to make up the difference.
Through food drives and donation bins, the USC received more than 700 food items during the holidays. Outside the holiday season, Saha said 100 items would constitute a good month.
“People just feel like if they’re able to, they can help,” she said.
The USC assembles food hampers for Carleton students in need, but this winter has been one of its most challenging. While fewer students were on campus after the fall semester ended, the needs of those staying in Ottawa over the holidays increased.
“Most of the time [students ask for] very basic, generic stuff like rice and pasta … But during the holiday season, we see an influx of additional stuff we usually have but don’t always give out, like soup, stew, meatballs and gravy,” Saha said.
For student volunteers, having to limit how much food they can give someone in need is “frustrating.”
USC student volunteer Makara Rolle said food demand is higher toward the end of the fall semester as the holidays approach, making it harder to keep shelves full.
“There’s only so much food that can be donated,” she said.
Another volunteer, Ruth Nobossi, said the university’s holiday closures affect resource distribution. “People want to stock up before they’re not able to during that last week of December,” she said.
The USC also struggles with retaining volunteers as the school year progresses and students’ course work becomes more demanding.
“The holiday season is the most difficult for us because volunteers are leaving and are busy with their exams,” Saha said.
Fewer volunteers means a reduced ability to prepare food. Saha said USC’s operating hours were adjusted from being open 12 hours a day to just eight over this holiday season.
Community steps up
Donations from the student community keep the USC’s mission viable, according to Saha.
Student volunteers said they feel motivated to help because they have a more intimate understanding of the unique struggles that fellow students face.
Mahnoor Nadeem, a fourth-year student, started volunteering with the USC in 2022. She said she’s witnessed a significant increase in demand for student food assistance, especially as the cost of living has skyrocketed post-pandemic.
But even before the pandemic, student life wasn’t cheap — the pressure of balancing living expenses with academic performance has just become worse. In 2018, Macleans reported the average post-secondary student paid more than $19,000 a year for their education, including expenses such as tuition, rent and groceries.
The USC was a valuable resource for international student Ediabasi Ekeng when he first arrived at Carleton.
“People need food to eat … people who have moved from their home countries to come to school and maybe don’t know the system yet, don’t know the food here yet,” said Ekeng, now a fifth-year student and USC volunteer. “I know that was my experience, figuring out how to shop and cook.”
Saha said digital monetary donations to the USC spike during the colder months, just in time to help ease the pressures they face while providing holiday food hampers.
Ottawa Food Bank communications manager Mustafa said when people are cold, they’re better able to relate with those facing food insecurity.
“There’s something about the winter that allows people to empathize with the fact that there are folks that may be experiencing hard times,” she said.
To address increased needs during the holidays, food assistance groups take extra steps to provide community support.
The USC holds its biggest food drive during the winter to take advantage of the heightened awareness around food demand. The Ottawa Food Bank holds its Holiday Helpers Food Drive in collaboration with CTV News every December.
This past season, the Ottawa Food Bank’s campaign raised $384,000, its highest-ever recorded total. The food bank also works with the CBC’s Make The Season Kind campaign to share inspirational stories about the food bank’s mission, which drives donations.
“It’s definitely been a busy holiday season, and one where we’re super lucky to have the support,” Mustafa said.
‘Our government needs to step up’
While the holidays may bring more attention to food insecurity, Mustafa said there are still shortfalls beyond the winter season that require government intervention.
The Ottawa Food Bank has a yearly budget of $30 million, only two per cent of which is funded by the municipal government. Everything else comes from individual and group donations, Mustafa said.
“If that 98 per cent is under any sort of pressure or is struggling, that does impact us,” she said. “Because food is becoming more expensive, demand is increasing at the same time.”
Like Carleton students using the USC, Ottawa residents accessing the food bank are creating more demand for its services, threatening to outpace supply.
“This has been incredibly hard because we were already struggling to meet the demand, but we’re doing everything we can,” Mustafa said.
Mustafa said the biggest hurdle to overcome is the systemic background of food insecurity. She said even with the help of food assistance, families still have to meet other expenses like housing and child care and can get stuck in a loop of endless debt.
“By the time someone has met their essential expenses like housing, chances are they are left with a deficit,” she said.
“How can you afford food after that? How can you afford things for your children after that? How can you afford transit to get to work or daycare when you’re at work?”
Mustafa said addressing food insecurity isn’t as simple as stocking someone’s fridge when it’s empty — she said advocacy for long-term solutions, such as a government declaration of a food insecurity crisis, is needed.
“We have the support, we’ve had conversations and there is awareness. It’s the inaction piece that we are working to address,” Mustafa said.
Featured image by Madeleine Gordon/the Charlatan.
