Last weekend, CTV Calgary had a Food Bank Drive to help replenish the Food Bank’s food stock. People interviewed by CTV were gushing how good it made them feel to give a couple of cans or a couple of bucks. One older woman was in tears because she was so proud of how generous Calgarians are with their money and volunteer time. Of course there was the standard story of how thankful recipients of the food were.

Every December, CBC and Suncor also have a food drive to raise money for the Food Bank. Last year they raised $745,000. This Food Bank Drive is milked for all its worth. Everyone trips over themselves congratulating each other. In reality, poverty is just swept under the rug. Behind the smiles there is a lot of meanness.

People are in need. According to the Food Bank, 12,766 Hampers for the Homeless Program, 34,686 food and 2,000 fruit and vegetable Emergency Hampers were given out in the last year. An estimated 124,713 Calgarians came to the Calgary Food Bank last year (an increase of 40% over 2008), 41% of whom are children.

The Food Bank Drive love-ins put our brains on hold. There is barely a mention publicly why people need food in the first place, why food recipients go through such a demeaning process to get help, or why we need to go through this charade year after year.

I used to work in a housing support program. I would get calls often about the Food Bank. Recipients can only access the Food Bank three times a year. If they are still in need, recipients have to get a note from a community organization to access the Food Bank up to three more times. Each hamper is supposed to last a week. Story after story I listened to said how demeaning the application process made people feel. They were all made to feel like lazy cheats. Recipients had to grovel to get food.

The stories of Food Bank recipients was heart breaking. Most were due to physical and mental health problems. People were too ill to work enough hours to make ends meet, especially with such low wages, often not much above the minimum wage of $8.80 per hour. People in poor health often live in poverty.

For those ‘lucky’ enough to get on social assistance, a single person would only receive $583 a month, while a family of three would only get $1,240 a month plus $461 a month from the federal National Child Benefit Supplement. Some on long term disability would receive $1,188 per month on AISH. Yet even this leaves one well under the poverty line.

I heard stories of people getting hurt at work, only to find a safety net with many holes. They just assumed that our society looked after people who were just having some back luck. Some stories were of debilitating diseases. For these people it was often a never ending juggling act to pay for their meds, their food, and their rent. They would often ask me why they were forced to live the rest of their lives in poverty.

Despite the ‘generous’ Food Bank donations, many recipients of this help are still stuck in poverty. After six weeks of hampers, these people have to scrounge for the remaining 46 weeks. 

My favourite political cartoon ever was one that had two pictures. On the left hand side was a room full of people. The question was if people could donate clothing and food to help the needy. Everyone in the room had their hand up. On the right hand side of the cartoon was the same room of people. The questioner asked who wanted to pay higher taxes to eliminate the need for food and clothing in the first place? No one put up their hand.  

How come CTV, CBC, and donors don’t ask why minimum wage and income supports still leave people below the poverty line? Or why corporations like Suncor pay such low royalty rates in the tarsands? Could they not afford an increase in royalty rates to make the Food Bank unnecessary to begin with? Or why Food Bank donors vote in governments whose policies ensure these people are stuck in poverty and are always the brunt of government cutbacks, rather than slightly raising taxes on those with the means to do so?

Anyway, I phoned CBC a couple of years ago to ask if they could raise awareness about these issues during the Food Bank Drive and eventually phase it out. I was told that there was no chance of this because the Food Drive was such a hit with CBC listeners. Why rain on their parade?

Food Bank Drives are nothing more than exorcisms to get rid of our greedy guilt. Lets stop pretending they are acts of generosity. Lets call a spade a spade. In reality they are signs of our ignorance and meanness.