Canadian Food Bank Complains of Lack of ‘Culturally Appropriate’ Donations

A food bank in the Canadian city of Surrey, British Columbia, has complained over a lack of “culturally appropriate” food, noting that around 80 per cent of those who use the food bank are Muslim.

The Surrey Food Bank claims that it needs more food, specifically Halal slaughtered meats, due to increasing demand from local Muslim families who make up around 80 per cent of the 13,000 people who use the food bank.

Vijay Naidu, who serves as the food bank communications manager told broadcaster CBC, “We would like to give them the food that they want rather than what they don’t want,” and added, “To make them feel happier, comfortable… that’s the whole point of giving them culturally specific food, so that they feel welcomed.”

Naidu claims that around 10,000 Muslim families use the food bank, while the facility can only afford around 3,000 units of halal meat per month.

According to figures from the Canadian national Census published by Statistics Canada, just 31,095 Muslims live in Surrey, suggesting that despite being just 5.4 per cent of the city’s population, Muslims are overwhelmingly overrepresented in food bank usage.

Amer Albirkdar, who came to Canada from Syria in 2020, stated he has been using the food bank since arriving in Canada in 2020, while Azim Dahya, the CEO of Muslim Food Bank, stated that his organisation had seen food bank visits increase from 500 to 1,000 per month over the last year.

Canadian food bank usage overall has dramatically increased this year as food inflation continues in the country’s supermarkets and grocers. Food Banks Canada showed that as of March of 2022, there were 1.5 million visits to food banks across the country, the highest usage ever recorded.

In October, a Canada-wide survey suggested that as many as one in five Canadians are skipping meals or reducing meal sizes to save money due to rising prices.

The Canadian federal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, meanwhile, has given strange advice to Canadians on how to save money, with Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland suggesting Canadians cancel streaming services like Disney Plus to cut costs.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.