If you send a letter to the CEO and Board of the Food Bank about the upcoming policies, send a copy to info@openlettertogvfb.com and we can share it on this page.
“WHEREAS, people accessing the foodbank have been shown to be food insecure; and
WHEREAS, having to ‘prove one’s poverty’ is a stigmatizing and difficult experience; …THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED… THAT the VFPC expresses serious concern regarding the re-registration process being enacted by the Greater Vancouver Food Bank effective April 1, 2020.” Click here to read the full motion
Vancouver Food Policy Council
“By requiring clients to provide government issued ID, proof of address and proof of low income, you are creating substantial barriers to accessing food bank services for the most vulnerable, including homeless and unwaged members of society. This practice will also create an unnecessarily stigmatizing experience for those members who are able to meet these excessive demands.” Click here to read the full letter
Food security researchers from the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University
“The Client Re-Registration Process is a high-barrier process that will effectively de-register clients who may have been previously eligible for services and exclude potential clients who cannot obtain the prescribed documents. Program requirements that require clients to produce proof of address effectively exclude people who are unsheltered and those who rely on public space (ex. sheltering in parks, vehicles or couch-surfing). Requiring identification documents further discriminates against people who cannot produce original documents – documents that may have been lost, stolen, or disposed of by police or bylaw officers.” Click here to read the full letter
Pivot Legal Society
“Many of us have 2 or 3 generations in one household due the opioid crisis, asking for additional info is one more hurdle to seniors raising children. Many culturally stigmatize coming to get food and being ESL is another barrier.” Click here to read the full letter
Individual Support Letter
“The folks we serve in our Vancouver community are so often unfairly treated and/or perceived as lesser, as failed, as unimportant, as invisible; to be a part of an organization whose goal was not only to provide food security, but also very intentionally to create a space in which interactions would be guided by respect, dignity and safety for our members felt remarkable. I felt honoured to represent this style of organization and to be given the opportunity to learn how to do so to the best of my abilities from the incredibly caring, passionate, grounded, and bright hub-staff at the sites where I volunteered. I am writing today in light of a perception that I have and that many others share that these values which once fuelled the GVFB have shifted in a detrimental direction – one that unnecessarily increases opportunities for shaming and excluding already wrongfully shamed and excluded members of our community.” Click here to read the full letter
Letter from an Anonymous Greater Vancouver Food Bank Volunteer