The Stratford House of Blessing food bank has experienced a nearly 200 per cent usage increase in the past five years

As the resource co-ordinator for the Stratford House of Blessing food bank, Aaron Balzer wasn’t surprised when he saw a report from Food Banks Canada that shows poverty and food insecurity has increased in Canada by almost 40 per cent in the past two years.

“I think, just based on what we see here in Stratford, it wasn’t terribly surprising. Just knowing and hearing reports from across Canada – from other food banks – and seeing how many people are in need of our food bank here and across our region, it wasn’t surprising to see that.

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“There’s a lot of room for improvement here in Canada,” Balzer said.

The annual Poverty Report Card, released by Foods

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