Rising Food Insecurity Hits Waterloo Region Families Hard

Lacy Kivell grew up in a household with limited food options and promised herself that she wouldn’t face the same struggles when raising her children. However, as living expenses keep climbing, she’s found herself relying on emergency food hampers, coupons, and even support from neighbors to feed her family.

“It’s always been a struggle as a single mom,” Kivell shared with while volunteering at the Greenway-Chaplin Community Centre.

“This community has helped. I have had friends giving me food because they know I have a son who is special needs, who has to eat on a regular basis and only loves certain foods.”

Kivell expressed concern about the rising grocery prices, especially since she can only access emergency food hampers once a month now. She used to receive more assistance when her youngest son was still in school.

<p"But since he's turned 18, that has stopped."

“I was connected with an outreach worker who helped me with [getting] gift cards for food, but now that my son turned 18, that’s no longer available,” she said.

This change means she often goes without meals.

“That’s why I don’t eat breakfast all the time because that way my son can have three meals a day and snacks because he’s a growing 18-year-old boy,” she said.

Kivell described living with food insecurity as experiencing constant anxiety. She frequently goes to bed worrying about how she’ll afford food, rent, and bills-especially during holiday seasons.

“Every day you wonder, where’s the sale? Am I going to be able to get this today?” she added.

Lacy Kivell is a volunteer at the Greenway-Chaplin Community Centre in Cambridge. She said she used to be able to access more supports and programs when her son was younger and in school. But that’s stopped since her son turned 18. (Carmen Groleau/CBC)

Food insecurity affects other areas of life

Dianne Mc Leod, CEO of the Cambridge Food Bank, noted that families could previously receive an emergency hamper eight times annually before the pandemic hit; however, they’ve adjusted it to once a month due to increasing demand.

“Emergency hampers are really supposed to be a few days worth of food that’s going to get you through a stuck spot, but what we’re seeing in this economic climate is people are relying on food banks every single month rather than once in a while,” Mc Leod told .

She mentioned that currently over 2,000 families depend on the food bank each month-a figure that’s more than doubled since before COVID-19 hit.

This need led the food bank team to introduce a mobile food market aimed at providing better support for families.

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The mobile market offers fresh produce at below-market prices and visits 16 locations throughout Cambridge and North Dumfries.

Mc Leod highlighted that the effects of food insecurity extend beyond just getting enough food-it also impacts people’s health and overall wellbeing.

“People are getting ill and they’re not able to manage their chronic diseases which is part of the reason we do a lot of programming at the Cambridge Food Bank on managing health,” she explained.

If you have celiac disease and need gluten-free options-that can be really pricey-and sometimes folks will choose cheaper options instead which ends up making them quite ill.”

While Mc Leod acknowledged there’s no simple solution for tackling local food insecurity issues, measures like rent control or increasing assistance for those on ODSP or Ontario Works could help some families out.

Kivell admits she’s unsure what the solution is but firmly believes: “Something needs to change.”

“It’s getting harder,” she stated emphatically. “They need to figure out and go talk to people because it’s not getting any better; it’s getting worse.”

Make the Season Kind is our annual holiday fundraiser in support of The Food Bank of Waterloo Region.

Our goal is to raise money and awareness for those facing food insecurity in Kitchener-Waterloo.

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