On this last day of November, around 2 pm, Mohamed* is standing in front of the Milano grocery store in Little Italy. Timidly, he approaches with a modest request: “Salam, could you help me? ” he murmured, holding out a piece of paper, his eyes down.
On this crumpled piece of paper is a basic grocery list: basmati rice, milk, eggs, garam masala, onions, bell peppers, peppers, flour, and meat.
Heading to a nearby food bank, he points out, “But there, they don't have rice or halal meat.”
Unfortunately, Mohamed's story is not unique. According to the 2023 Hunger Report, nearly a quarter of food bank users are newcomers of various statuses: asylum seekers, refugees, permanent or temporary immigrants.
La Converse looked at the availability of products from different culinary traditions in food banks and alternative solutions at lower cost.
The Family Support Center
On Friday, December 8, around 2 p.m., the Family Support Center (CEAF), in Rivière-des-Prairies—Pointe-aux-Trembles, is preparing for the opening of the weekly food counter in one hour. Despite the cold, a dozen people are already waiting outside.
The director, Yolette Café, welcomes us with a smile on her face, her winter coat closed all the way: “As you can see, the vast majority of our beneficiaries are people with an immigration background, and the food we receive does not reflect their culinary diversity. But I can't go look for specific foods when I'm not even sure if there are basic products.”
Inside, the room is divided thanks to dividers. On one side are thirty carefully arranged chairs that create a welcoming space. On the other hand, the meticulous preparation of food baskets and boxes takes place. Volunteers form two teams. The most agile begin to unload the truck full of boxes of foodstuffs and transport them carefully to the reception room.
The director places cucumbers in boxes: “We help three main groups: newcomers — especially asylum seekers — the new poor, and the elderly.”
“Make sure there is enough food left to prepare emergency boxes,” Yolette reminds the volunteers who put the finished boxes on the ground in a loud and tender voice.
This week, the CEAF weekly basket includes some fruits and vegetables, chicken strips, chicken strips, canned tuna, a can of juice, Cheerios cereal, instant coffee, a liter of 2% milk, chips, sandwich bread, chips, sandwich bread, a beer, yogurt and banana bread slices.
“We receive meat deliveries twice a month, and today is distribution day. Unfortunately, halal meat is rarely included, which means that our Muslim customers cannot benefit from this offer,” explains Yolette.
Photo: Katharine Norva
“Food is also a way to feel at home”
The doors of the center open in about fifteen minutes, but some beneficiaries are let in, who have come to sign up for the Christmas basket, which will be distributed on the 19th. The volunteer team welcomes them and offers them hot coffee.
They talk to each other in Creole and discuss the recipes they will try to make for the holidays if they get the right produce, such as sweet potatoes, squash, plantains, and red and black beans.
While listening to them, Yolette explains to us: “To prepare these recipes, we often lack ingredients, because the food we receive does not necessarily correspond to their culinary traditions. We don't have the power to select the items that end up in our baskets; Moisson Montréal sends them to us.”
Contacted for this purpose, Moisson Montréal's procurement manager, Lissa Huneault, tells us that, “as we [Moisson Montréal] accept donations, I am dependent on what I receive, on the other hand I make a real effort to find as many foods as possible that can appeal to all communities.”
For example, the organization put “rice in Christmas boxes, knowing that this ingredient is culturally accepted by all and also necessary in several cultures.”
“Indeed, there is rice there,” notes Yolette, opening one of Moisson Montréal's boxes. “Haitians, Syrians and Pakistanis, for example, eat a lot of rice, but it's not the 700g bag that Moisson put in that will be enough for a family with teenagers,” she believes.
She goes on to list the products: “They also added instant noodles, Chocomax, a juice box, cookies, a macaroni pack, and cans, but unfortunately, no vegetables, no fruits, and no dairy. My goal is to include at least three full meals per basket.
A bit disappointed, the director admits: “We have about 200 Christmas baskets to prepare and we have to do some shopping to complete them. We wanted to give people turkey or chicken, but where are we going to get the money? ”
On this subject, she calls out to her colleague, Caroline Audain, who works voluntarily to raise funds. “For our beneficiaries, even if they have difficulties all year round, they like to gather around a good meal during the holidays, but it will be difficult to make ends meet this year,” laments Caroline, a real estate broker by profession.
“This week, I went to a grocery store to buy more rice, different types of beans and potatoes for our customers, many of whom are of Haitian origin. They celebrate Christmas, New Year's Day and a national holiday during this period,” says Yolette.
“It's important to have people who decide how to supply the communities they serve, because they understand the importance of coming together for a good meal,” comments Caroline.
Coming from Haitian immigration, she feels that it is a necessary effort, because “food is also a way to feel at home.”
“I wish there were more foods from our culture”
It is 15:00 and the doors of the center are open for users. After a few minutes, the room is packed, and the line is also popular, despite the cold.
Among the first beneficiaries of the weekly basket, there is Salma*. “I have been in Quebec for 18 years, but this year, it is the first time that I go to a food bank. I had to stop working six years ago due to surgery, and my family and I were living on my husband's salary. Everything was going well, but it was a very difficult year, we can't keep up the pace.”
Of Syrian origin, Salma explains that her children do not know that their family is one of the thousands of Quebecers who depend on food aid to meet their needs. “I no longer really have a choice if I want to reduce expenses with this unbearable inflation.”
Through CEAF, Salma and her family discovered a lot of new products. “For example, I had never cooked with plantain before this year. The people here are nice, they tell us how to do it,” she says, talking about employees and beneficiaries.
While listening to him, Rania*, an Algerian mother of three teenagers, intervenes in the conversation to add: “Do you know what I would really like to eat? Bled figs. But they are really expensive. It would be so good if they brought it back one day.”
The two women, almost in unison, say they want halal meat. “Honestly, we don't buy it often anymore,” says Rania. When we buy it, it's not to taste it, but to flavor our meals.”
Then, moving forward in line, Laury*, a newcomer from Haiti, stops to greet Salma and Rania.
“I live in Montreal North, but I am coming here because I know that they are trying to distribute food from home. This is not the case in food banks near me. Here, the team that works is similar to us. I can attest to their generosity of spirit. They never turn anyone away. They always find ways to give something,” she tells us before entering the reception room.
It is 15:45 p.m., the line is still stretching, the CEAF is buzzing with users' conversations, some sitting, but most of them standing. Volunteers continue to make weekly baskets and distribute them to customers. Yolette wants everyone's attention: “We're organizing a Christmas meal on the 29th, there will be turkey! Come on, we want to see you, we want to get to know you, we never have time to talk to each other well.”
The announcement was over, people were cheering, some promised to come, and the hustle and bustle started again.
Carrefour Populaire de Saint-Michel
Photo: Katharine Norva
Also in the east of the city, at the Carrefour Popaire de Saint-Michel, the demand for food aid is also high.
In the Carrefour community kitchen, a team of staff members and volunteers gather around the table, ready to share a meal. On the menu today, spaghetti with halal meat, prepared by the cook, who takes care of community meals.
The coordinator, Mame Bigué Dieng, mentions that there is still a lack of food to complete the Christmas boxes. Elle Explain that she also buys groceries to diversify products offered to beneficiaries, for example halal meat.
“The good thing here is that we have My Shopping Box, which allows us to have better prices and to look for products that are similar to our customers. Look, we're cooking with halal meat for our volunteers.”
“For example, during Eid, we buy halal meat for Muslims and medium-sized couscous that suits North African cooking habits,” says the coordinator.
My grocery box: a market for everyone
More volunteers are joining the table, they have just finished making the My Food Box baskets.
In 2011, a group of committed residents of Saint-Michel joined forces to implement an innovative idea: “By buying in larger quantities, by doing our shopping together, we might be able to reduce the cost of our grocery stores.”
More than a decade later, this buying group became My Shopping Box. “Initially, we had about ten products from a single supplier. Now, we offer nearly 400 items distributed by a variety of different suppliers,” says Yitong Chen, the development officer at Ma Boîte à Provision.
Now, Ma Boîte à Provisions offers a bimonthly, affordable selection of fresh, varied and local foods. Free delivery is even offered in the neighborhood to seniors and people with reduced mobility.
“Unfortunately, right now, we can't extend delivery to everyone, as our delivery person is also the janitor, and we're looking to ease their responsibilities. However, as we are a community market, everyone is welcome to order from us and take advantage of our good prices; it's not just for the residents of the neighborhood,” she says.
“The Saint-Michel district is very multicultural, attracting users from various backgrounds. For our food aid service with monthly baskets, the choice of products is not always possible. This year, despite high demand, we only received halal meat twice, and at random times.”
Yitong leads us into the storage room. On the shelves, the products vary. We find various spices, ranging from cumin to Afro-Creole spice blends, different types of rice, various beans, all kinds of nuts, etc.
“With My Food Box, we are trying to meet the demands of different communities. For example, the Haitian community has expressed a great need for different types of beans. Likewise, the Latino community told us about their recurring need for cornmeal. And this is also the case for the Maghreb community, which asked us for wheat semolina.”
“Our team is diverse, from staff members to volunteers. That means we understand the cooking habits of our communities and can select the right ingredients. Take couscous, for example; we only offer one type, but that's because the Maghreb community, which is the main user among our customers, prefers medium-sized grains. We are adding products according to community requests.”
But how do they manage to get a good price?
“Our team consists of me, Kathleen Phaëton, and Mame Bigué Dieng. We are actively involved in negotiating prices with suppliers. As we are a community initiative, we are not looking for profits, and we bypass intermediaries such as supermarkets. We're going to look for better prices.”
Despite their efforts, Yitong must recognize that inflation is taking precedence over her talent as a negotiator. “We can no longer offer products as simple as mayonnaise, the quality-price ratio is too unfavorable.”
Kathleen Phaëton, the Carrefour's food security coordinator, explains the role of collaboration in the success of Ma Boîte à Provisions.
“Thanks to Collective Impact Project funding with Centraide, we can do several projects in our neighborhood.”
“In the products offered by Ma Boîte à provisions, we include a component dedicated to food processing. So, not only do we use unsold leftovers to prepare meals, but we also have partners like Les Jumeleurs and Mon Resto Saint-Michel, who prepare quality frozen meals at affordable prices, ranging from $3.85 to $5.50.”
In addition, Ma Boîte à Provision also has a production component with urban agriculture. “We receive several foods from Patriots' Garden and the greenhouse at Louis-Joseph-Papineau High School. For example, the food we sell comes directly from the fall harvest in the garden. My colleagues who take care of the garden have started planting exotic species such as hibiscus. It is not yet a product that we sell, but we will certainly have it next year, as we do with herbs.”
“Our short food supply and processing circuit is fully anchored in the Saint-Michel district, promoting a direct connection between local producers and consumers, while encouraging a sustainable approach”, concludes Kathleen Phaëton.
In addition, La Converse conducted comparative analyses of supermarket bills and Ma Boîte à Provision. With the exception of a few products, My Shopping Box manages to reduce the total cost of the grocery bill.
December is drawing to a close and the new year promises new challenges. According to the two food banks, cases like Mohamed's will increase, especially with the overwhelming inflation. Food banks seek to adapt to the needs of their customers and especially to their culinary culture, but to do so, it is necessary to provide them with adequate resources. In the meantime, the Saint-Michel Popular Carrefour will be closed to allow the team to rest and regain their strength. The Family Support Centre remains open, even during the holiday season.
*We changed his first name for security reasons