The fall always elicits thoughts of harvest — laying in the stores before winter hits, and here we are just waiting for the first snows of winter to dress our town in its glistening white attire.
Many of us celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving with a wholesome meal, hardly able to stuff the leftovers into our fridges. And next weekend, Whistler will help its U.S. neighbours celebrate their Thanksgiving as they travel to the resort to vacation.
Added to these thoughts of plenty is, of course, the amazing celebration of all things food and beverage that Whistler is enjoying at Cornucopia this week.
It is an interesting juxtaposition, then, to learn this week of the latest food bank numbers for Canada.
The Hunger Count 2016 report from Food Banks Canada found that every province had an increase in need except Ontario and Manitoba, and some provinces saw double-digit spikes. British Columbia saw 103,464 people helped. Of those, 32.2 per cent were children. Overall this year, there has been a 3.4-per-cent rise since last year and a whopping 32.5-per-cent increase since 2008.
We don’t have 2016 food bank stats for Whistler, but we know that in 2015, food-bank use increased by nine per cent.