Reading Time: 6 minutes Food banks across the province, including those in rural communities, are seeing soaring demand. “Food bank use in Alberta has gone up 73 per cent since 2019,” said Arianna Scott, CEO of Food Banks Alberta. That’s more than double the 35 per cent rise seen nationally over the same period, but it is no surprise […] Read more

Rural food banks see huge jump in visits
Inflation is hitting thousands of Albertans very hard

Black Sea grain export deal extended
Deal's terms unchanged; Moscow to still seek removal of obstacles to grain, fertilizer exports
Reuters — A deal aimed at easing global food shortages by helping Ukraine export its agricultural products from Black Sea ports was extended for four months on Thursday, though Russia said its own demands were yet to be fully addressed. The agreement, initially reached in July, created a protected transit corridor and was designed to […] Read more

U.N.’s Black Sea grain deal continues without Russia
London | Reuters – Grain was flowing out of Ukraine at a record pace on Monday under an initiative led by the United Nations aimed at easing global food shortages despite Russia’s decision to suspend its participation in the scheme. Russia said on Saturday it was pulling out of the deal, which ensured safe passage […] Read more

Haiti gang blockade causing catastrophic hunger, U.N. says
Situation "close to breaking point," WFP rep says
Miami | Reuters — Haitians are experiencing catastrophic hunger because of gangsters blockading a major fuel terminal, U.N. officials said on Friday, with more than four million facing acute food insecurity. A coalition of gangs has prevented the distribution of diesel and gasoline for over a month to protest a plan to cut fuel subsidies. […] Read more

B.C. to back Indigenous food system projects
New program taking applications starting Monday
A new British Columbia program will provide up to $80,000 each for projects in agriculture, food processing or other sectors to improve food security in that province’s Indigenous communities. The province on Wednesday rolled out a new Indigenous Food Systems and Agriculture Partnership Program, which is set up to take applications starting Monday (Sept. 26) […] Read more

Nearly a million people face starvation in hunger hotspots, U.N. agencies report
London | Reuters — Nearly one million people in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen are starving or will face starvation this year in the absence of aid, as the global food crisis worsens, United Nations agencies warned on Wednesday. Local conflict and weather extremes remain the primary drivers of acute hunger, aggravated this […] Read more

Produce prices spike in flood-hit Pakistan as food crisis looms
Flooding wrecks crops, hampers logistics
Lahore | Reuters — Vegetable and fruit prices have soared in markets across Pakistan as devastating rains ruin crops and disrupt supplies, an early sign of how the worst floods in decades are creating food shortages at a time of financial crisis. Pakistan’s 220 million people are already facing rampant inflation, with consumer prices up […] Read more

Acute food insecurity now touching 345 million worldwide
Baghdad | Reuters — The number of people facing acute food insecurity worldwide has more than doubled to 345 million since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, conflict and climate change, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday. Before the coronavirus crisis, 135 million suffered from acute hunger worldwide, Corinne Fleischer, the WFP’s regional […] Read more

Hunger crisis deepening, says Canadian Foodgrains Bank
Raging drought, inflation and conflict drive food shortages
Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Fifty million people around the world are near to or experiencing famine, up from 40 million in May, according to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. “There’ll be many malnourished. At least 20 per cent will be extremely malnourished,” said the organization’s executive director, Andy Harrington. Two out of every 10,000 of those people […] Read more

Canada seeks to boost foreign aid for food security
Grain traffic out of Ukraine not yet easing crisis
Amman | Reuters — An international food crisis exacerbated by the Ukraine war has spurred Canada to boost an over $6 billion annual foreign aid budget to help the most hard-hit countries in Africa and the Middle East, Canada’s aid minister said on Thursday. “The Ukraine crisis is creating shock waves when it comes to […] Read more