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New Brunswick

New food centre helps families with more than just meals

Peter McKee Community Food Centre assists 1,500 Moncton families in becoming self-sufficient

Gabrielle Fahmy - CBC News

Posted: September 16, 2016

The Peter McKee Community Food Centre is at the site of the old military base gym near the corner of St. George and Vaughan Harvey boulevards in Moncton. (CBC)

The newly opened Peter McKee Community Food Centre is trying to turn away from traditional food bank roles, and help low-income families become self-sufficient by offering education, cooking classes and personalised planning.

The centre opened in May, as a result of the merging of three Moncton area food banks.

Gabrielle Johnson, a single mother of six who is jobless because of a back condition, has been relying on food banks since she moved to Moncton four years ago. She didn't feel comfortable using the old food bank on Mark Avenue.

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"I wouldn't even want my kids to go there, because it was dirty," said Johnson. "It wasn't a place that food should have been given out. You definitely felt like you were a charity case."

The Peter McKee Community Food Centre is open five days a week, and has a community garden, kitchen and play room. 

Gabrielle Johnson has been volunteering at the Peter McKee Community Food Centre since June. She is also a client. (CBC)
"It's a totally different feeling. They're making you feel more like a person I find, than the location before. You don't feel like you're begging," said Johnson.

"You have the option now to kind of pick the food. It makes you feel more in control of your situation versus them just saying 'Here this is what we have, take it,' kind of thing."

1,500 families in Moncton

The new centre helps 1,500 low-income families in the Moncton area, which represents a 20 per cent increase, according to Food Depot executive director Chantal Senecal.

"We're seeing more and more working families that are coming in that just can't make ends meet," said Senecal. "The cost of food and the low wages in New Brunswick is a huge issue."

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According to the Hunger Count 2015 report, one in 40 people in New Brunswick relies on food banks to make ends meet, and the demand is constantly increasing.

That's why Senecal said it's important to help families find longer-term solutions.

"We're offering not only food, but support and resources and education to try to get people to transition out of the food assistance program into other programs that we offer at the centre and eventually become more-self-sufficient in their own lives," said Senecal