North Bay food bank says it's prepared for food shortage, though not experiencing one yet
Putting extra food away in the freezer is one way The Gathering Place is preparing in case of a food shortage.
“We’ve already started some contingency planning," said Dennis Chippa, executive director of The Gathering Place. “We have a walk-in freezer unit, so when food comes in we stick it in the freezer for now."
“We take in the food, then we keep it ourselves and hand it out to other agencies. Down the road, we have to take care of our clients and ourselves, so down the road, if it becomes a crisis, we will probably just keep more of the food.”
While Chippa is prepared, experts told CTV News that Canadians have nothing to worry about.
“Canadians should have no concern about food availability,” said Michelle Wasylyshen, spokesperson for the Retail Council of Canada.
“There is food on the grocery store shelves. There is no overall threat to the overall robustness of the food supply chain.”
Demand remains high at The Gathering Place, Chippa said, but they will continue to be able to serve all clients.
“We don’t think we will be that impacted yet. Maybe (at the) end of February, maybe we will start to see something, but right now we are going to hang in,” he said.
“We will fill the freezer gradually and if it doesn’t happen, that’s great, we will have more food available.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.