Abstract
Poverty in Greater Toronto Area suburbs is growing at an alarming rate, particularly in the wake of the 2008 recession. One associated outcome is a dramatic increase in residents’ use of food banks. Suburban planning and design makes car ownership necessary to navigate these areas. How, then, do low-income residents address the barrier of transportation when accessing a food bank if they do not have a car? The investigation used qualitative research including a literature review, collection and analysis of data on food banks in the GTA, and interviews with food bank managers and front line workers. The results revealed that reduced access to a car, hours of operation of food banks, and the cultural difference between food bank users and donors in the suburbs are key areas for both long term and short term strategies that could ease the burden of transportation for food bank participants.
Highlights
Poverty in Greater Toronto Area suburbs is growing at an alarming rate, in the wake of the 2008 recession
If access to social services is dependent on ability to arrive at a mall, or another central business location, in the absence of a car the suburban resident must consider public transportation
Suburbs are designed to be used by cars, a fact which encourages individuals to travel to their destinations in solitary vehicles (Garreau, 1991)
Summary
In addition to primary data collection and secondary research, I have relied on one-on-one interviews to gain insight on how suburban food banks are dealing with their clients’ transportation challenges. This section will discuss poverty, how it is measured in Canada, and what it means to be a lowincome suburban resident, in the outer-ring suburbs It will examine the history and current use of food banks and highlight some challenges that come with delivering social services in the suburbs. As the vast majority of lowincome residents in Toronto live in suburbs, they have much less reliable access to these essential public goods (Hulchanski, 2006) This shift indicates a disappearing middle class where residents are forced out of their neighbourhoods due to gentrification and higher market values of property, leading them to find housing away from key supports that are more available in the core of the city (Hulchanski, 2006). Barriers such as lack of knowledge, perceived discrimination and a lack of social network may be applicable to prospective food bank clients in outer-ring suburbs
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