Fighting Food Insecurity: Indoor Golf & Daily Bread: Again for 2022/23 Winter Season
Our small business experience of COVID-19 lockdowns reminded us how fragile economic wellbeing can be. As it was for so many small business owners, especially in the hospitality sector, 18 months of close to zero business revenue was extremely painful. We cut back sharply on our family spending, not knowing when, or sometimes even if, our indoor golf business would reopen. However, we survived, and we’re relieved to have made it through to 2022/23 indoor golf season. But so many people suffered such severe ongoing economic misfortune both during COVID and now well beyond that accessing enough food has become a daily challenge.
Especially in a modern, wealthy country like Canada, no one should ever go hungry. But food insecurity is widespread in our local communities and has grown in recent times. About four million Canadians can’t afford the food they need, with almost 1 in 5 Toronto households impacted.
The Daily Bread Food Bank in Etobicoke is at the forefront of the challenge to tackle food insecurity in the GTA. It was founded in 1983 and has grown to become one of Canada’s largest food banks. From an 108,000 sq. ft distribution hub on New Toronto Street it supplies food to nearly 200 food programs across Toronto. Their ‘Who’s Hungry’ 2021 report reveals that there were 1.45 million visits to Toronto food banks last year, the highest number of visits ever recorded in Toronto. This represents a 47% increase compared to the previous year and is 1.5 times higher than the previous record set in 2010 at the peak of the 2008 recession.
