Toronto Drop-In NetworkMeeting the Meal Gap: How Drop-ins Addressed Food Insecurity During the Pandemic

Meeting the Meal Gap: How Drop-ins Addressed Food Insecurity During the Pandemic

TDIN invites you to dig into our new report:

Meeting the Meal Gap: How Drop-ins Addressed Food Insecurity During the Pandemic.

This report documents how drop-ins across Toronto stretched and pivoted to respond to the intensification of the food and water needs for people in the communities they traditionally work with, as well as for people who were new to drop-in spaces. At its core, it seeks to make visible the life-saving work of drop-ins. It is also an acknowledgement and celebration of the incredible mobilization of funder, community, private, and individual efforts, and what these efforts were able to produce:

• Over a 24-week period, beginning on April 1st, 2020, TDIN calculates that our member drop-ins served an average of 40,132 meals per week. This translates to 963,168 meals during this period.
• Short-term, emergency meal provision initiatives donated 65,795 meals to TDIN members. This accounted for 6.8% of meals provided by drop-ins during COVID-19.
• Through TDIN’s donation efforts, 185,300 bottles and cans of water were acquired and distributed.

There are important takeaways from this experience. From the micro to the macro, both emergency responses and longer-term food justice strategies must act on the lessons and build on the capacities that have been gained throughout the last six months by TDIN and its members.

The COVID-19 pandemic is occurring for communities already facing a housing crisis, an overdose crisis, and a system that continues to perpetuate poverty and oppression, including racism and on-going colonialism. The most effective way to acknowledge the importance of grass roots responses to pandemic emergencies is to build the social and economic infrastructure required to fulfil the human rights to housing, food, dignity, agency, and full inclusion in society. This report is part of TDIN’s contribution to telling the neighbourhood stories and supporting advocacy to bring about these changes.

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