February 28, 2022

An estimated one in seven Canadians struggle to afford basic nutrition, according to Dietitians of Canada. This number is up from the one in eight Canadians who were food insecure prior to the COVID-19 crisis, and with costs increasing everywhere, there’s concern that the number will rise further still. 

Since April 2020, the Ontario Community Support Program (OCSP) has been helping organizations like Circle of Care Sinai Health  and VON North Bay  get food to the vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities who need it the most, through their Meals on Wheels programs. The funding, from the Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility and administered by the Ontario Community Support Association, has been extended to March 2022. Organizations will need on-going funding past this date to continue to meet the needs of the many folks who benefit from this program.

Ensuring that isolated seniors and people with disabilities have access to reliable, nutritious food is an important preventative measure that helps to ease the strain on the healthcare system. Terry-Lynn Gravelle, the Meals on Wheels Coordinator for VON North Bay, has seen first-hand the transformative effect that access to healthy meals has had on clients in her program, like the gentleman who was on a liquid diet when he signed up for Meals on Wheels.

“Now he gets regular food to cook himself, because his health has improved,” she says. “I have another gentleman who is a diabetic and it was uncontrolled. Now his sugar is averaging eight, which is much better than [it was] in the high teens. So this funding has allowed me to assist them and improve their health, but they otherwise would not be able to afford to get fresh produce because it's too expensive.”

While the cost of fresh produce continues to rise, base funding for these organizations often remains the same. “We're renegotiating with our three different food providers, and they're all looking for 10 to 20% increases depending on the vendor and their prices. So obviously, that drives our costs up and our funding is fixed,” says Josi Sarne, Director, Community Engagement & Growth at Circle of Care. “That puts us into a position of needing to find ways to get more money, either through increasing our base funding, or raising our prices to clients, which you know, we absolutely do not want to do, or cutting back in other ways. None of those are easy choices, or ones that we want to make.”

71% of respondents to a recent OCSP survey estimated that more than 25% of their clients are facing food insecurity, and for many Meals on Wheels clients on a fixed income, even a minimal charge like $6.50 a meal is out of reach, and without additional funding, either from the government or corporate and individual donors, organizations are challenged to make tight funding stretch even further. The program is already reliant on the thousands of volunteers who not only donate their time to deliver meals and produce boxes, but also use their own vehicles, often without reimbursement for gas or mileage. 

These volunteers, like Noah, a young adult with a disability who delivers with the help of his parents; David, whose delivery companion is his daughter’s 18-month old Bernedoodle dog; Lissie and Gail, a pair of friends who volunteer together; and one of the women who helped to start the North Bay Meals on Wheels program in the 70’s, are not only a friendly face for isolated seniors, in some cases they’re a lifeline. 

“It's not just the food and the nutrition that [seniors are] getting,” says Lisa Rae, Director of Volunteers, Intake and MOW Services. “It's that safety check. That's very important for a lot of our seniors. And unfortunately, our volunteers have found clients on the floor periodically, throughout the year, where EMS has had to be called, or a relative has had to be called to come and attend to them.”

With Spring on the horizon and an easing of COVID-19 restrictions, life is beginning to feel a bit less precarious for many Ontarians. But the reality is, even once the pandemic ends, food insecurity will remain. “The need is out there,” Josi says, “It continues to be out there, it's not going away. And, you know, if you add on an additional pressure of costs, reducing the amount you can provide, and you've got more people, then it makes for a pretty significant challenge to continue the program the way we'd like to continue the program.”

Peter, a volunteer with Circle of Care Meals on Wheels, feels fortunate to be in a position to help others. “If we have learned nothing else during this historic pandemic, it is that in order to survive, we must do so as part of a larger community,” he says. If you have been looking for ways to help your community, either by donating time or money, please consider Meals on Wheels , as the need has never been greater.