UNFED
Regina's Food Insecurity Problem
Video by: Deborah Adedayo, Femi Akinloye, Anish Jairath, Ethan Jasper and Andrea Vera
Casandra Machiskinic was 15 years old when she first stepped into the Food Bank with her two children in tow. When most kids her age were worried about school, she was focused on feeding her own kids.
“When I first went to the Food Bank … It was embarrassing,” said Machiskinic. “You don’t want to look at anybody when you go into a food bank, you just want to go in and out … At first it was hard, cause you don’t want to tell anyone you need help.”
Christie Westbrook, a teacher at Thomson Community School says that food insecurity needs to be talked about, even though it is seen as taboo for some families.
“It’s a subject that’s not often talked about; it’s seen as intrusive,” said Westbrook.
Normalizing conversations around food insecurity is one of the reasons Westbrook loves Thomson Community School.
Running food-based projects multiple times a week, Thomson prides itself on its Nutrition Program, feeding kids breakfast with the help of volunteers.
Casandra Machiskinic in Thomson Community School. Video by: Deborah Adedayo and Lucas Horsman
When Machiskinic’s children began attending Thomson’s cooking program, she went alongside them.
Machiskinic said that Thomson’s programs keep her going from month to month.
One of the most valuable parts of the program is the cooking classes, in which participants are taught how to make healthy meals with only a few ingredients.
They were taught how to make three variations of broccoli soup with both fresh and frozen ingredients. Participants are encouraged to bring home the cooked food and lessons learned.
“[The cooks] teach us how to stretch food,” said Machiskinic.
Making the most of a few ingredients is crucial when good food is hard to come by and food assistance programs can be difficult to access.
Christie Westbrook in Thomson Community School. Photos by: Lucas Horsman and Anish Jairath.
Machiskinic rarely goes to the Food Bank now, but when she first used it, waitlists were two weeks long. She said the waitlist is up to three weeks now.
In between mechanic shops and warehouses sits the Regina Food Bank, a lifeline for people struggling with food insecurity.
Large cardboard boxes are stuffed with bagels, buns and loaves of bread, and employees in orange vests fill crates with fresh produce while patrons bag their groceries. Above them, a sign says “Let’s feed someone today.”
In 2019, the number of Food Hub appointments were 171, in 2024, the numbers jumped to 430.
The Regina Food Bank hasn’t yet had to limit appointments, unlike the nearby Moose Jaw Food Bank just down the highway, which has capped family visits to one per month.
This change was announced on March 24 and was attributed to a 150 per cent increase in visits, as well as a 20 per cent decrease in monetary donations.
Designed by: Lucas Horsman and Andrea Vera.
According to a report from Saskhealth, 28 per cent of Saskatchewan’s total population and 35 per cent of children live in food insecure households.
“You can really see the poverty, especially in the children,” said Stephanie Wenger, a manager at the Food Hub in Regina, located on 12th Ave. “I’ve seen a lot of sad situations where I would deliver the box and the children would immediately tear into the box and eat cereal or whatever they can.”
The Food Hub, one of the biggest Food Bank locations in Regina, served 21,050 people in 2025, with the average client visiting ten times a year, a 50 per cent increase from the year prior. Operating a door-to-door delivery service, particularly on Broad Street and Winnipeg Street, the Food Hub works with retail, wholesale, and producer partners to source food.
InspirED Sask volunteering at asahtowikamik Food Hub. Photos provided by: InspirED Sask.
“People don’t come to a food bank because they’re hungry,” said David Froh, Regina’s ward three councillor and former vice-president of the Food Bank from 2020 to 2024.
“They come to a food bank for any number of reasons; because they live in a community that doesn’t have a grocery store, minimum wage in Saskatchewan isn’t a living wage, their benefits aren’t sufficient [and] many new Canadians come until they get established. So food banks just treat a symptom of a broader societal challenge,” said Froh.
“People don't come to a food bank because they're hungry.”
David Froh
One of the reasons behind increasing food insecurity is inflation. According to Simon Enoch, Senior Researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative, the purchasing power of wages has gone down in the last 30 years.
“Wages have remained somewhat stagnant while costs increase. So, that is effectively a pay cut because prices are going up, but your wages aren’t maintaining the same purchasing power,” said Enoch.
Ron Styles, an Economics professor at the University of Regina (U of R) said when basic needs become expensive, people have to choose between necessities.
“Do I have food, or do I pay for the education for my children that are going to university?” said Styles.
“The lower your income is, the more difficult it is by quite a margin,” he added.
Design by: Lucas Horsman and Andrea Vera.
Where a person lives can also determine their access to food.
In some regions of the city, nearly half of the population are considered below the poverty line according to the City of Regina.
Machiskinic has found that it is easier to find support since moving away from North Central. However, she said that coming from the neighborhood is “embarrassing.”
“North Central is an area of our community that is a food desert, and what that means is there isn’t a grocery store within two kilometers of the average resident,” said Froh.
According to research done by the City of Regina, one in four people that live in North Central are Indigenous. To combat food insecurity within urban Indigenous communities, organizations like Nēwo-Yōtina Friendship Centre have been established.
“We serve a minimum of 150 meals a day,” said Teresa Innis, the Executive Director of the Nēwo-Yōtina Friendship Centre in Regina.
The centre serves breakfast seven days a week, and lunch on weekdays. The breakfast program had food leftover in the past.
“Now we’re seeing those meals gone within 15 minutes,” said Innis.
The centre has noticed more families lining up for meals. Innis said that the reason behind it is insufficient income assistance programs.
Design by: Lucas Horsman and Andrea Vera.
Roland Kaye, an Elder’s Helper and community liaison at the First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv) has witnessed firsthand how food insecurity impacts the community in more ways than one.
“There are a lot of social issues that come with [food] insecurity whether it’s poverty, addictions, houselessness, people who don’t receive enough dollars in assistance to survive, there are many different factors that contribute to that,” said Kaye.
“There’s [a] time that I had to use the food bank but [it] should be a last resort and not as a dependent.”
Kaye received more funding from social services than his daughter did when her children were under his care.
“Our single mothers who … are on assistance don’t get enough money to live,” said Kaye.
Machiskinic uses the Saskatchewan Income Support (SIS) program, but said that it doesn’t even cover rent.
“I have seven kids,” said Machiskinic. “They give me $1,060 for the month. The rent is $1,3[00]. The power, the water, and the gas comes up to $1,000 a month.”
When she asked for a food voucher, she was given $40 and told to budget it, which is “just enough to make it to the next day.”
“Clearly, the government isn’t doing enough … [The Sask. Party] signed on to the federal school lunch program, but we haven’t seen any movement on actual implementation,” said Saskatchewan NDP MLA Erika Ritchie.
In 2024, the Saskatchewan government announced a $2 million commitment over two years for food bank funding. However, the 2026-27 budget does not renew this funding.
“Responsibility for affordability isn’t something the provincial government assigns but rather takes very seriously by continually working with community partners and all levels of government to find solutions,” said Christian Kainz, a Senior Media Relations Officer for Terry Jenson, Saskatchewan’s Minister of Social Services.
“In Canada, no level of government is responsible for food security. So, you learn in school that the federal government is responsible for defense, foreign and Indigenous Affairs, [while] provincial [governments are responsible for] health care and education, amongst others, no one is responsible for food insecurity. What that means is it falls in between the cracks,” said Froh.
“The lower your income is, the more difficult it is by quite a margin."
Ron Styles
“I think that we don’t necessarily wait for a government that has shown that they’re committing social murder on the streets,” said Tiro Mthembu, an activist and cook at Thomson School.
Mthembu’s daughter attends the Thomson School, and he decided to combine his love for cooking and community to create Thomson’s food program.
“We have to look within our communities […] the most important thing is to meet with your neighbour and have conversations to understand what are the community needs that are most heightened,” said Mthembu.
As government assistance programs fall short of helping everyone, some Regina community groups are trying to fill the gaps.
On the corner of Dewdney Avenue and Angus Street, the warm smell of spices and freshly-cooked meals beckons hungry people to Guru Nanak Free Kitchen.
Some patrons sit in nearby alleys, smiling over their chickpea curry. Others line up in front of a truck full of food.
Patrons lining up at Guru Nanak Free Kitchen. Photos by: Ethan Jasper.
“On a typical day like this, we will be serving close to 600-800 meals.”said Hem Juttla, Chairperson and Director of Guru Nanak Free Kitchen.
The project receives funding from sponsors and donations within the Sikh community.
“We are not here to convert anybody. We do not talk religion. Our whole purpose is … to serve humanity.”
Some patrons can be spotted carrying multiple boxed meals to bring back to their families at home.
“Originally we were trying to restrict [the number of meals] to maybe two … but we realized that there are people waiting at home. They can take meals for their spouses, so it’s made lots of peoples’ lives easier.”
Food insecurity has also become a growing issue on the U of R Campus. With rising housing costs, tuition hikes and parking fees, students will often choose to pay to continue their education first, and attempt to feed themselves with whatever’s left.
“You hear of struggling students, and again it comes down to dollars, like what does band funding give a single student or even a student with two children,” said Kaye. “How can you live on $1,500 a month with rent and bills, and then food. It’s a big struggle for our students here also.”
Student Success Services at FNUniv combats food insecurity on campus as it is becoming more prevalent within students on both the FNUniv and the U of R campus.
Some students are taking matters into their own hands, like Chanchal Mitruka and Amélie Marain.
With the help of Regina Public Interest Research Group (RPIRG), the two students have begun the UR Food Project, aiming to open a space on campus where students and community members can gain access to a pantry full of food requested by patrons, as well as basic cooking staples like eggs, milk and bread.
UR Food Project events to raise funds for their food insecurity initiative. Photos provided by: Tayef Ahmed and Chanchal Mitruka.
Mitruka and Marain began the program in February, and are hoping to have it operational by May.
Since it began, UR Food Project has raised $7,000 and has secured discounted rates from grocery stores and farms.
“It’s specifically for helping the people who are really struggling with food insecurity on our campus,” said Marain. “We want to be able to reach those specific people, and [then] expand as we can.”
As students, parents, volunteers and social workers try to feed the hungry, the lines for food seem to be growing across Regina.
Machiskinic said that it has become easier to ask for help, knowing that others also struggle to afford enough healthy food for their families.
“I’m more comfortable with it because I didn’t know how much people were going for food rescues and soup kitchens.”
Editors: Ethan Jasper, Arufha Malek.
Writers: Kaitlyn Fischer, Emma LeClair, Lucas Horsman, Colby Schneider.
Reporters: Deborah Adedayo, Femi Akinloye, Larissa Belinsky, Dalyn Chuckry, Danielle Dufour, Katie Flath, Anish Jairath, Erika Madarash, Joshua Potter, Jordan Sargeant, Andrea Vera.