Food Banks Canada introduced its new standards in 2024, giving participating organizations a March 2026 deadline to complete the accreditation process. Killarney Food Bank says that means a lot of work for smaller rural groups to get access to grants. (CBC – image credit)
A rural Manitoba food bank says a national network’s new accreditation program doesn’t reflect the realities of small communities facing rising food insecurity.
Killarney Food Bank secretary Petchie Hawkins says the more than 30-year-old volunteer-run food bank is already stretched thin.
Next to the food bank in the southwestern Manitoba community of about 2,400 sits a small community garden. Its harvest, along with donations of farm fresh eggs from local farmers, helps feed people in Killarney — something that new national standards Food Banks Canada introduced in 2024 say may not be allowed.
Getting accreditation through Food Banks Canada, a national network, would help the Killarney organization qualify for grants.
However, signing on to the national standards would require a lot of changes and paperwork — something the Killarney Food Bank hasn’t had the capacity for, Hawkins said. It hired its first employee in mid-November to help.
Killarney Food Bank secretary Petchie Hawkins says accreditation is a lot to take on for volunteer-run organizations and requires making changes that could come at a cost. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)
The food bank relies on a yearly food drive and community donations of food and cash, Hawkins said, and needs about $75,000 a year to help feed about 60 families.
Food Banks Canada grants would help cover bigger infrastructure costs, she said.
But to meet the national network’s standards, which cover everything from governance to food safety, Killarney Food Bank would have to stop giving out farm-fresh ungraded eggs and adjust how produce is distributed.
That’s a concern for the food bank’s bottom line, said Hawkins.
“When you’re paying up to $5 a dozen for eggs at the store and you can get them from a local farmer either for free … [or] at $2.50 a dozen, it makes a huge difference,” she said.
“Money will run out quickly if we had to purchase eggs at full grocery store prices.”
The national network’s standards don’t account for rural food banks that depend heavily on local donations, said Hawkins.
She also worries that even with a new full-time operations manager, they still may not be able to meet a March 2026 deadline to complete the accreditation process.
Accreditation process
Food Banks Canada says its standards were developed through consultations with food banks of all sizes and are meant to ensure consistency, adaptability and accountability.
Many food banks have already completed the accreditation process, and Food Banks Canada expects the majority will earn accreditation by 2026, a spokesperson said in a statement.
Meaghan Erbus, the director of network, advocacy and education with the provincial food bank network Harvest Manitoba, estimates five of roughly 150 food banks in the province have been accredited.
She expects Manitoba’s numbers to remain low. The process is daunting, and she believes many food banks may ultimately choose to focus on local support instead.
“People are there to support people from where they’re at,” said Erbus. “[Accreditation] is a thing off the side of their desk … so I can understand how this would be an additional pressure.”
Meaghan Erbus, Harvest Manitoba’s director of network, advocacy and education, says about five out 150 organizations in the province have completed the accreditation process. (Harvest Manitoba)
If groups opt out, they may not have access to Canada Food Banks grants in the future, but they can still get food and help from Harvest Manitoba, she said.
The organization is working to identify gaps food banks face, such as infrastructure, funding and access to community gardens — work that will help Harvest advocate to Food Banks Canada for provincewide support, Erbus said.
‘A lot of little obstacles’
Killarney Food Bank chair Giselle Beaupre says her organization won’t fully understand the impact of accreditation until it starts the process.
“We wouldn’t know the reward until we started applying for more dollars,” she said. “But getting there is the problem. There’s a lot of little obstacles.”
Before hiring an operations manager, volunteers put in more than 50 hours a week sorting food, picking up donations and keeping the food bank running for hamper pickups. With food insecurity rising, adding administrative work is a problem, said Beaupre.
Killarney Food Bank chair Giselle Beaupre says she’s still not sure if accreditation with Canada Food Banks will be worth the reward. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)
“It’s adding one more layer to something that is already hard,” she said.
Ted Dzogan, chair of the John Howard Society of Brandon, heard about the national standards after rural food banks reached out with concerns.
His non-profit runs Brandon’s Food Rescue Grocery Store — a social enterprise that accepts excess food from retail and warehouse distributors and then sells the “rescued” food to community members at a discount.
He questions rules like one that says food banks considered “lower risk” or “medium risk” should not grow or accept community garden produce, or a rule that requires graded eggs.
The standards seem to have been set without rural input, said Dzogan.
“Hunger may be the same problem [everywhere, but] the local conditions in the community dictate wildly different solutions,” he said.
“The solution that works in the city will not work in rural Canada.”
The Food Rescue Grocery Store’s Ted Dzogan says Canada Food Bank’s accreditation rules don’t reflect the needs of rural communities. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)
Hawkins says the issue is also one of equity.
Killarney has a grocery store, Boundary Co-op, that donates excess bread. Hutterite colonies in the area also help keep the pantry stocked.
She worries that rules around produce and graded eggs could limit what they can accept if they want to meet the new accreditation standards.
“We depend so much on community gardens and … donations from local people and from the colonies,” Hawkins said.
“We can’t access the Safeway store and pick up three tonnes of produce. It’s all about networking and building relationships.”
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