Rising demand forces Ottawa Food Bank to find bigger home

The Ottawa Food Bank is moving to a spacious new home and itsCEO hopes it willmean less food goes to waste.

The agency will be leaving its current Michael Street location and leasing a new warehouse onBantree Street in an industrial park off Innes Road.

The food bank has been around for nearly 40 years, with the last18 at its current location.

"We've spent nearly half our life here," said CEO Rachael Wilson. "It'll be sad to see it go, but we know there's great things happening for us over at Bantree."

When the food bank first moved into its current building, it only used up half the space, Now, Wilson said,it's outgrown the entire 21,000-square-foot facility.

At 43,000 square feet, their new home will offer more than double the space, something they badly need, Wilson told CBC Radio'sIn Town and Outon Saturday.

"Unfortunately, that's because the need here in Ottawa just continues to grow," she said.

'More fresh food' for the community

One of the biggest upgrades to thenew facility, Wilson said, is its additional cold storage.

"We'll be able to take more fresh and frozen donations," Wilson said. "And it means we'll be able to put out more fresh food into the community, which really means better health outcomes."

Wilson said each year at the current facility,the food bank turns away about $80,000 worth of fresh food and donations.

There's so little space, itcurrently stores non-perishables at a second site.

Food prices in Canada jumped six and a half percent in Janary 2022,the biggest increase in more than a decade, according to Statistics Canada.

National data from Food Banks Canada alsoshows a 20 per cent increase in visits to food banks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wilson said the Ottawa Food Bankplans to begin renovations on its new space in April in preparation fora September move-in.