Food bank demand reaches extremely high in Quebec, Racine Croisée fears closure

There is an unprecedented demand according to Food Banks of Quebec. In 2023, 872,000 Quebecers were helped by food banks each month — nearly a 75 per cent increase since 2019.

“I feel really upset that this is the last Friday, because I don’t know where to find a similar place, it will be tough to find one,” said a client of the Racine Croisée food bank. “At this moment, it’s a tough financial situation.” 

Racine Croisée food bank was founded in 2006 and operates in the Plateau. 

Over the past 15 years, Racine Croisée says the food bank has supported 16,000 families by distributing 130,000 food baskets and donating 148 tonnes of food. The baskets cost 7 dollars a piece and contain items that change each week. They throw fundraisers to support operation costs like rent.

“Sometimes it’s easily $50 for just one grocery bag, right?” said Franklin Tan, communications coordinator for  Racine Croisée. “So imagine you have a family, four people, four bags, that comes up to $200, which is quite a lot.”

“Our main objective is that we get the word out. We need help right now because we’ve been trying to look for a new locale since June and unfortunately, it’s been very challenging along the way… after today, after this last distribution, we don’t really know what’s going to happen to us.“

The non-profit distributes around 200 food baskets each Friday afternoon.  

The volunteers were organized in an assembly line style and the they moved rapidly. They filled baskets with fruit, vegetables, coffee, cooking oil, sanitary items and much more. This was the last distribution day from their temporary space at Santropol Roulant, which they had moved to after losing their previous location a few months ago.

“The landlord was no longer open to welcoming us because neighbors complained about the line,” said Anne Lawson, communications coordinator for Racine Croisée. “The lines were just so large for them, they didn’t like it for aesthetical reasons.”

“So now we need a place where we can hold the activities for people to come and be safe because, with winter, there’s even more people, people are more in need,” she said. “So it is a big challenge.” 

Lawson, a student pursuing her PHD in law, moved to Montreal from Cameroon in 2021 and was a customer before starting to volunteer at Racine Croisée.

“They became family,” she said. “When I came in Canada, I was alone sometimes and the fact that I came to the food bank, I met people, and found some good friends.”

Another customer adding, “We came here because we are students, so we live with scholarships.”

“The prices of the market right now, it’s really expensive to live, so this is the only option that we have.” 

“Even though it’s our last distribution, we still showed up because we are determined to give people a chance at a decent life,” said Tan.

“Even if it means that we’re going to be stressed out, we’re going to be tired, we’re going to be even losing sleep about it, well then so be it. If it gives people an extra week to get on their feet, then you betcha we’re going to make sure that we give them that extra week.”