Tag Archives: food prices

CKMS Community News, Newsroom

CKMS News -2024-03-31- The Free Weekly Distro fills a need and “shares the bounty”

Leave a comment

CKMS News -2024-03-31- The Free Weekly Distro fills a need and “shares the bounty”

by: dan kellar

Waterloo – As the cost of living crisis continues and the effects of high housing costs remain at the forefront of many discussions, record high food prices remain an important issue.

Since the fall of 2020, LSPIRG and Martin Luther University College have run a project out of the college, called “The Free Weekly Distro“, offering free food and basic home items to anyone who needs them. While the project’s webpage states The Distro started in response to “the serious level of food insecurity that was compounded due to COVID-19 unemployment and existing services being closed”, the mutual aid effort continues weekly as food costs have continued to rise.

This show features an Interview with Tavia Weber, the Distro Program Development and Partnerships Coordinator at Luther. Weber talks about the program’s origin, the effects of the high cost of living on students, and the massive growth in the program’s use. 

CKMS Community News, Newsroom

CKMS News – 2024-02-07 – A Waterloo Sobeys will be served ACORN’s “Menu for Fair Food For All” as part of national protests

Leave a comment

CKMS News – 2024-02-07 – ACORN Menu For Fair Food For All

by: dan kellar

On Saturday February 10th, the social and economic justice organisation ACORN is holding a national day of action to “Stop Grocery Giants from Price Gouging”.  In Waterloo, the regional chapter of ACORN is organising a demonstration at Sobeys on Bridgeport Ave.

In a press release ACORN claims that consolidation in the grocery industry is driving-up prices and that “Grocery giants in Canada are on their way to set a new record – $6 billion profit in 2023… [they] are now earning more than twice as much profit as they did before the COVID-19 pandemic.”

This show features an interview with Acer Bonaparte of Waterloo Region ACORN, who discusses the day of action and reviews ACORN’s “Menu of fair food for all demands.” While the office of Minister Sudds gave CKMS News an update on the school food program, Sobeys had not responded to requests for comment when this piece first aired.

CKMS Community News, Newsroom

CKMS News – Food insecurity and the federal grocery rebate.

Leave a comment

CKMS News – 2023-07-16 – Grocery Rebate

By MP Holmes
Kitchener, ON

How has the grocery rebate impacted people in Kitchener-Waterloo, and are there alternatives that can be implemented to address sharply rising costs, including a universal basic income?

Today’s show talks to Kim Wilhelm, interim CEO of the Food bank of Kitchener-Waterloo and MP for London North Centre and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue, Peter Fragiskatos, and listens in to the testimony of Neil Hetherington, the CEO of the Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto, in front of the the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance about the recently announced grocery rebate as part of the 2023/24 budget.

——————————-  

The music on today’s show is called “BAIKAL” by @scandinavianz courtesy of by BreakingCopyright on youtube.

 This music is used under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license.

This program is a part of the “Local Journalism Initiative” and is funded by the Community Radio Fund of Canada, Heritage Canada, and the CKMS Newsroom.

Check out the archived versions of this program on radiowaterloo.ca/news, and listen to all the LJI content at canada-info.ca.

If you want to get in touch with comments, or ideas about stories to cover, email us at news@radiowaterloo.ca