All in the family Big Brothers/Big Sisters extends its reach Page A3
NEWS: City makes plans for its urban forest /A5 ARTS: Local director’s project debuts at film fest /A12 SPORTS: Jr. B Cougars in a league of their own /A17
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VICTORIANEWS VICTORIA Wednesday, January 30, 2013
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Break-ins are linked, police say Pair of robberies committed within 12 minutes
Multi-faith group aims to reduce need for charity function this decade Daniel Palmer News staff
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Food banks a ‘Band-Aid’ solution to poverty Sharon Tiffin/News staff
Peggy Wilmot recalls a young mother walking through the door at St. John the Divine to collect her monthly quota from the church’s food bank. Wilmot was excited to tell her about the Good Food Box program, a $6 hamper of affordable produce sourced from local farmers. “We started bringing in sample boxes, showing people what they could get,” she says. The woman seemed interested, but when she found out the price of the fresh kale, squash and root vegetables, she said she simply couldn’t afford it. “She said, ‘I get $610 a month, and my rent is $640. There’s nothing left over. In fact, I still have to scramble to figure out how I can make up the difference,’” Wilmot says. The woman’s story is becoming more common, as food banks struggle to meet a demand that has risen 31 per cent since 2007 across Canada. The increased burden on charities, churches and non-profits is also increasing pressure on higher levels of government to create real food security in communities. Food Banks Canada numbers show that
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Church member and food bank volunteer Peggy Wilmot holds an arm full of food in the St. John the Divine Church basement. Money and donations of food is collected from the St. John the Divine congregation and distributed to those in need twice weekly. 882,000 people accessed food banks across the country last year, an all-time high. More troubling, 11 per cent of those people used the service for the first time. The three food banks in the municipality of Victoria – the Mustard Seed and smaller services at St. John the Divine and Saint Vincent de Paul – have to restrict their users to one visit each month to keep the system afloat. “It’s mopping the floor instead of fixing the roof,” says Wilmot. She is lobbying government to recognize the problem through her organization, Faith in Action. “Churches in particular have responded to this need by donating to a food bank, but the longer we do it, the more we realize it’s letting the government off the hook.” Over the past 30 years, a system meant to provide temporary relief to the most vulnerable populations has matured into a societal pillar. Welfare, minimum wage and old age pension
payments haven’t kept up with inflation rates or the rising cost of food and housing. Some of the problem is that Island residents rely on up to 95 per cent of their food being imported from the mainland and beyond, says Linda Geggie of the Capital Region Food and Agriculture Initiatives Roundtable. Geggie and her colleagues promote local food security through dozens of initiatives, such as community gardening, education about the origins of meat, produce and grain, and even cooking classes. “That’s kind of a lost skill,” she says. “A lot of people don’t know how to use whole foods and how to cook and store and prepare food.” The introduction of farmer-led programs is also helping train a new generation of local farmers on small-scale intensive agriculture. “These older farmers, they don’t want to see their farms die because there’s no one to take it on,” Geggie says. PLEASE SEE: Food security, Page A4
Two people were arrested Monday morning on suspicion of breaking into two Greater Victoria businesses. Victoria police responded to a 2 a.m. alarm call Monday at Cabin 12 restaurant, 3111 Cedar Hill Rd. near the Saanich border. Twelve minutes later, a call came in to Saanich police about a break-in at the government liquor store in Shelbourne Plaza. A Saanich officer providing containment near the first crime scene stopped a vehicle nearby. He noticed the passenger was nursing a bloody hand and six large bottles of liquor were visible. The 49-year-old man and 45-year-old woman in the vehicle were arrested shortly afterward. Saanich police Sgt. Steve Morgan says it appears the two crimes are related. “We believe that’s the case just because of the time frame and proximity (of the breakins),” he said. “We’re doing some further investigation in terms of forensic evidence to determine that.” Both suspects are expected to face charges of break and enter and possession of stolen property. The man was also wanted on three outstanding warrants, and will face breach-related charges. kslavin@saanichnews.com
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