Some food items in stock at West Island Mission.
Food crisis felt close to home
BY ELYSE AMEND
elyse.amend@transcontinental.ca
With rising fuel prices, climbing population numbers, drought, flooding, and increased demand from developing countries, food prices are soaring across the globe and the effects of the crisis are being felt right here at home.
“It’s very expensive. And when people are worried about paying their rent, paying their gas, paying their hydro, food ends up pretty low on the list,” said Suzannah, a single mother living in Dollard des Ormeaux’s Sunnybrooke Village. On top of caring for her own 19-year-old son, Suzannah has been lending her neighbour Sebastian, an 18-year-old landed immigrant from Chile, a hand. Sebastian’s mother passed away from cancer on March 21, leaving her only child with a stack of unpaid bills and no family to help him.
“He’s a nice kid. He’s a likeable kid. He works hard. But everything is a mess,” Suzannah said, adding Sebastian attends CEGEP and works as well “And if you don’t have money for milk, you’re not going to be having milk.”
Sebastian will be getting some help from the West Island Mission (WIM), an organization that provides food assistance and other aid to over 400 homes in the area. But while the WIM tries to help as many people as it can, Eric Tetreault, the organization’s founder and general manager, is worried they might not be able to keep up with demand as food prices keep rising.
“We have to cut back. Here we are, budgeting a certain amount. But there are all these increases (in food prices). This is beyond what we were thinking,” Tetreault said last week, as he was getting ready to deliver spring baskets to over 350 underprivileged households in the West Island. For example, one two-litre carton of milk now costs him 20 cents more than it did around Christmas, and the WIM’s bread costs will be going up 30 cents per loaf in the next little while, Tetreault said.
“I used to see a box of no name (macaroni and cheese) at 47 cents, and now when I go shopping, that same box is at 67 cents,” he said. “That’s just one example. But everything has gone up. We’re a food bank, and we depend on donations — whether its food or funds. Poverty is not decreasing. It’s increasing.”
Businesses feeling effects
Grocers are feeling the effects of the global food crisis, too: the Akhavan supermarkets in Pierrefonds and Notre Dame de Grace have also seen prices rise, company president Ali Akhavan said. The price of flour has tripled in the past six months, and the price of canola and corn oil has doubled in the past three. As for rice, imported varieties have doubled, and American kinds have gone up by at least 20 per cent, Akhavan said.
“That could go up more than what you see now,” he said, adding that while customers can still buy rice at a relatively low charge because the stores are selling products they purchased before costs increased, they cannot freeze the prices forever. “This is going to be bad for low income (people). It’s going to be bad for them, and we don’t like to see this. But we are very limited. We don’t have control over it.”
Over at the Cantors Bakery in Pointe Claire, owner Jeanie Lee pointed out that while the price of flour has gone up, she can not pass on all the costs to her clients, some who have been regulars in her 20 years of business.
“Bread prices have gone up already. Especially multigrain and whole wheat,” she said. However, Lee added she has not raised the prices of her deli sandwiches to reflect that increase in order to keep her customers happy. “For store owners, I think overall profits are going down.”
A real impact
Over at the West Island Assistance Fund, Johanne Despatis, the president of the board of directors, is not sure how much of an effect rising food prices will have on the organization’s food bank shelves.
“It’s a very good question. Will there be an increase (in demand)? Goodness, I really hope not. Not because we won’t be able to meet the demand and serve them, but because I hope people aren’t in such bad situations,” she said. “But a few more dollars a week in groceries makes a huge difference for a family that is disadvantaged.”
But Tetreault definitely sees a problem ahead.
“There’s no doubt there’ll be an increase (in demand). All the people we serve live on a very limited income. They can’t afford things anymore,” he said. “It affects people here in the West Island, too.”
As for Sebastian, Suzannah said they are trying to work everything out and get the young man back on his feet. And fresh food is just one part of it.
“You could see his face light up when he was told he’ll get fresh food,” Suzannah said. “It makes a real impact.”
Weather: Montreal, May 13th 2008 / 21°C
/ A few clouds
/ Wind: 11 Km/h / Humidity: 31 % 
by Elyse Amend 
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andrea kevanArticle online since May 1st 2008
I am a teacher at St. Thomas High School in Pointe-Claire and am proud to tell you what my students have been working on! This past month we have been working on a "media unit" where students were required read the news Gazette and Chonicle and focus on a world news event. After hearing about the Global Food Crisis class, my students were outraged. We have printed out the your article and read it over as a class. The students have decided to help this crisis by having a MOVIE sale that will take place on May 10th at St. Thomas High School. All proceeds from the sale will go towards the Global Food Crisis.
So far, students have received over 150 movies to sell and we expect many more to come in next week.
St. Thomas has been featured in the chronical, however, it is often the IBO students. The Immersion students are often considered the "lower level" when really they are enthusiastic, bright and motivated. I would love for the chance for them to share their story with Montreal, and focus on a world crisis.