By Nea Maaty
(Nea is a journalist with the FOCUS MEDIA ARTS CENTRE)

In this episode of St. James Town TV News, we explore how community agencies in the St. James Town community are working together to respond to food insecurity issues and increased demands caused by the pandemic.  

Since the pandemic, difficulty affording food has been particularly increasing. Food insecurity is still one of the major issues in St. James Town especially after the economic drop that affected many people due to COVID 19 lockdown.

Although food banks and other community agencies are working really hard to address the problem of food insecurity, they also face a number of challenges. One of the biggest challenge they face is running out of funding.

The St. James Town Community Co-op is a social enterprise that operates various food initiatives in the St. James Town area.  The Co-op has responded to the Covid-19 pandemic by providing an emergency food relief program run out of the Wellesley Community Centre at Sherbourne and Wellesley Street. The Co-op is struggling with running out of funding, however they are working on finding alternatives to keep their program going.

“They have got the funding from Red Cross I think for the pandemic.” said Ravi Subrananiam - The Director, Hubs, and Partnerships at the St. James Town Community Corner (The Corner). Subrananiam explained how funding during the pandemic usually has a timeline. It is important not only to think about how to manage funding but also how to raise funding and be a self-efficient organization. Ravi believes that organizations should think of alternative solutions and savvy methods to keep fueling their food insecurity projects.

Not-For-Profit organizations that manage food banks provide a great service to the community. Their work not only helps to secure people who do not have access to food, but also increases the spirit of the community, family, and safety in the neighborhood. However, funding is not the only issue that these organizations face. Since they are mostly run by members of the community, volunteers also could be one of the challenges, namely their stability and ability to keep working and offering their help on the long run.  Other obstacles that these organizations face include the lack of sufficient space, places for storage, materials, tools and more.

In this episode of St. James Town News we explore the different approaches organizations in the St. James Town community are taking to address food insecurity and respond to the crisis.