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Hungry for Change

Toronto, ON (December 6, 2006) – The OAFB is at Queen’s Park today to release Hungry for Change: A New Vision for Reducing Hunger and Poverty in Ontario.  As a follow-up to last week’s Ontario Hunger Report, the 182 page collection of three discussion papers offers an in-depth examination of those hardest hit by hunger – including Ontario’s children, Ontarians with disabilities, and working Ontarians – and presents long-term solutions to reduce hunger and poverty for these Ontarians.

“We know that hunger hits Ontario’s children, Ontarians with disabilities, and working Ontarians the hardest,” Adam Spence, Executive Director of the OAFB.  “We need to bring a new perspective on poverty to the table that recognizes the spiraling costs of this growing social deficit.  We need to change the hearts and minds of Ontarians so that they can see the impact that hunger and poverty have on the daily lives of thousands, and the long-term effect it has on our collective socioeconomic well-being.”

The new perspective must be accompanied with a new vision and long-term commitment by the provincial and federal governments to reduce hunger.  “The long-term costs of poverty – including its impact on our health care system, lost taxation revenue, and decreased productivity – can be reduced with investment today,” says Sandy Singers, Chair of the OAFB and Executive Director of the Partners in Mission Food Bank in Kingston.  “We need a new vision with clear targets and solutions.  It’s simply an investment in Ontario’s future.”

The OAFB’s plan outlines a comprehensive, long-term strategy to reduce hunger and poverty across the province.  Key recommendations in Hungry for Change include:
•    an integrated child benefit plan including a new Ontario Child Benefit for Ontario’s children to increase benefits for all Ontario’s low-income families;
•    an increase in the support package for Ontarians with disabilities to meet the levels provided to seniors and, ideally, to provide enough assistance for Ontarians with disabilities to live at or beyond the poverty line; and
•    a tax credit for working Ontarians living in poverty to increase household earnings to ensure that individuals and families are able to earn more and save more.

In addition to the report’s release, food bank representatives are meeting with Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) from all three parties to bring their vision for reducing hunger and poverty directly to the provincial government.

“The time to act is now,” said Spence.  “Hundreds of thousands of Ontarians are hungry for change.”

The Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB) is a network of over 100 food banks including communities across the province from Ottawa to Windsor, and Niagara Falls to Thunder Bay.  The full Hungry for Change report with recommendations is available for download; for more information about the OAFB, hunger and poverty in Ontario, please visit our website, www.OAFB.ca.

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For further information, contact:

Adam Spence, Executive Director, Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB), T: 416.656.4100, C: 416.543.0897, E: adam@OAFB.ca
Nicola Cernik, Member Relations Coordinator, Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB), T: 416.656.4100, C: 416.454.2261, E: nicola@OAFB.ca

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