At meeting tonight, residents can weigh in on New Brunswick’s anti-poverty strategy
A review of New Brunswick’s strategy to battle poverty is underway, and the Southeast Regional Service Commission is hosting a series of public meetings to gather input from New Brunswickers. The first meeting happens tonight at the Church by the Lake in Middle Sackville. On today’s show, we hear from the commission’s Marc André Chiasson and Moving Forward Together Cooperative volunteer Wendy Keats about why residents should consider adding their two cents to the province’s Overcoming Poverty Together plan.
Plus in news briefs, the Sackville Ceasefire Now Coalition is planning a procession to Sackville Town Hall tonight in time for Tantramar council’s regular monthly meeting at 7pm, and the former owner of the Sackville Tribune-Post is in danger of bankruptcy after filing for creditor protection. … Continue
‘Nobody should go hungry’: new community cupboard gives 24/7 access to food and supplies
The Sackville Food Bank is expanding access with a new Community Cupboard, which offers food and supplies to anyone in need, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Longtime food bank volunteers and sisters Tammy Fahey and Jacqueline Fahey are the team spearheading the project, which is currently in its pilot form, with a small re-purposed cupboard set up outside the Sackville Commons Co-op on Lorne Street.
Hear Tammy Fahey and Jacqueline Fahey on Tantramar Report:
“It’s just a cupboard where people can come and they can take some food,” says Jacqueline Fahey, “instead of having to wait maybe until Wednesday when the food bank is open. It just makes it a lot easier.”
In addition to the new Community Cupboard, the food bank is also adding an evening pick up time to its schedule, to make access easier for people with work or school commitments during the day. According to data from Food Banks Canada, more than half of food insecure households rely on employment income, meaning scheduling matters. “A lot of people are working,” says Fahey, they can’t get out [during the day.]” Starting next week on January 17, the Sackville Food Bank will be open Tuesday evenings from 6:30pm to 7:30pm.
In the meantime, the Community Cupboard is stocked with weather-proof dry goods like cereal, soup and pasta mixes, and granola bars.… Continue
‘It’s shameful’: NB has second highest rate of food insecurity in Canada
New Brunswick has the second highest rate of food insecurity in the country, behind only Alberta, according to a recent report by PROOF, a food insecurity research program based at the University of Toronto.
PROOF found that nearly one out of every six households in the country had problems or concerns meeting their food needs in 2021. And in New Brunswick, that number was even higher, with 19% (about 64,000 households) reporting food insecurity.
“I think it’s shameful,” says Heather Patterson, director of the Sackville Food Bank. “It’s something that all people who work with food banks know, and it’s been going on like this for a very long time.”
Patterson says food banks are not the answer. “Successive governments have been aware of these problems and have tried to fix things with giving money to food banks,” says Patterson. “That’s not the solution. The Food Bank is a great stopgap measure, but it shouldn’t be the solution to poverty or food insecurity.”
The PROOF report is based on Statistics Canada’s Canadian Income Survey conducted in 2021, and also breaks down the severity of food insecurity that people are experiencing.
In New Brunswick, nearly 6%—or 20,000 households—are severely food insecure, meaning they miss meals, reduce their food intake and sometimes go without food.… Continue