For the past three Christmases, the Deans and their three children have spent the day in their Northumberland bakery, dishing out and packaging turkey dinners with all the fixings.
The Brighton business owners prepare and offer free meals to anyone in the community in need. No questions asked.
Mel and Jeremy Dean of Just Like Granny’s were inspired to take on dinner for a couple of hundred community members during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. They knew people wouldn’t or couldn’t gather with their families and they didn’t want them to be alone and without a holiday meal. Ontario implemented a province-wide lockdown on December 26, 2020, which closed most non-essential businesses and highly discouraged Ontarians from interacting with people outside of their immediate households.
While COVID-19 isn’t a factor to the same extent as it was, serving free Christmas dinners is a tradition the Deans will continue.
“We are, in fact, doing it again,” Mel Dean said.
“We are expecting about 200 — that’s our usual number. We did go a bit over that number last year due to the blizzard and people with lack of power (during the major snowstorm over Christmas in 2022). We’re not totally sure how many this year yet.”
“We know that the food bank is up in their numbers so we may have more,” she added.
Ontario is experiencing record-breaking increases in food bank use, according to Feed Ontario’s Hunger Report 2023: Why Ontarians Can’t Get Ahead. The report provides an analysis of data gathered by the Ontario food bank network between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023.
The document explores the reasons for food bank use, presents food bank use data from the past year, and discusses how food banks “are on the brink of not being able to meet the need in their community.”
“Food bank use remains at an all-time high with this year marking the seventh consecutive year of food bank use increases,” the report’s summary on the Feed Ontario website states.
Ontario’s food banks were visited 5,888,685 times throughout the year, an increase of 36 per cent over 2022 and 101 per cent over pre-pandemic levels.
The Brighton Fare Share Food Bank is seeing a similar trend. Food bank manager Pat Artkin said before the pandemic, there were 65 clients per month accessing the food bank. In November of this year, there were 104.
“We have 130 households registered in Brighton,” Artkin said. “We have seen a significant increase in food bank usage over last year. We are meeting new families each week who need our support. They are struggling with daily financial needs and food insecurity.”
Donations from Brighton residents continue to be generous and are welcomed, she noted. Both grocery stores in town and The Bargain Shop on Prince Edward Street have a list of wish items for the food bank, and any financial donations help the Elizabeth Street food bank purchase fresh fruits, vegetables, and other perishable items.
Like in Brighton, the Ontario report notes inadequate employment and income earning opportunities are making it difficult for people to get ahead.
More than one in six food bank visitors cited employment as their primary source of income, an 82 per cent increase over 2016-17 and a 37 per cent increase over the previous year. People working a contract or seasonal position are four times more likely to rely on a food bank and those working part-time jobs are three times more likely, the summary noted.
Social assistance remains the primary source of income for most food bank visitors. The number of people relying on the Ontario Disability Support Program and Ontario Works has increased 17 per cent over the previous year, the website stated.
“High housing and living costs make it difficult for Ontarians to afford other essential expenses.”
Back at Just Like Granny’s, the Deans save every donation dropped in their tip jar at the bakery and put it towards the cost of offering Christmas dinner and the other community endeavours they pursue throughout the year.
“We never keep tips for ourselves,” Dean said. “If people feel the need to help, we do accept donations. People have dropped off in the past frozen turkeys, potatoes, and gift cards to the local grocery stores to help us with the ingredients.”
People wishing to donate can stop by the bakery at 40 Prince Edward St. or reach out to the Deans through Just Like Granny’s Facebook page. To learn more about food bank usage in Ontario, visit feedontario.ca.
