FBC Supporting Hunger Awareness Week

4,000,000 people in Canada are food insecure. That is 4 million Canadians. No "!" point is necessary because that number in itself is enough.

850,000 Canadians turn to food banks every month.

Let those numbers sink in for a moment.

For many of us, we are lucky enough to have enough to eat each and every day. Not only that, we take photos of our food when there are those out there who are just thankful to have food to eat. We are aware of that irony and that's why we made a donation to Food Banks Canada recently after surpassing 5,000 Followers on Instagram rather than having a contest like others do when they hit a milestone like that.

And that's why we are proud to support Hunger Awareness Week which is one of the major initiatives of Food Banks Canada. The goal this year is to dispel the myths associated with those who need food banks, namely, we have no idea who needs the support. It can be your neighbour, your best friend, it can be anyone.

The goal is to take a moment from our food-crazed lives to think and focus on hunger. For example, the hashtag #FoodPorn is used 48,000+ every 12 seconds in Canada vs #FoodSecurity which is used 10,627 per year! And for that reason, the Twitter handle @CanadianHunger has been created. Hunger will have its own voice on Twitter during Hunger Awareness Week. The voice of hunger will interact and engage with Canadians using #TweetsofHunger to try and bring all types of food-relation discussions to the table!

Since 2008, the usage of food banks in Canada has increased by 25%. Of the 850,000 Canadians that need the resources of their local food bank, 37% of them are children. Over 800 food banks and almost 3,000 affiliated agencies work in tandem across Canada to help those in need. Hunger Awareness Week is less about raising money (which is always important) but rather raising awareness that asks and challenges Canadians to learn more about hunger issues, the importance of food banks and how to make a difference. This is a big step in that learning and understanding process.

Here are 5 ways you can help Participate in Hunger Awareness Week and starting with watching this video then sharing it is #1.