Low social assistance rates are also a factor in high demand, the report found. More than 40 per cent of clients received provincial income assistance, either general welfare or disability support, as their primary source of income. The report said that in every province and territory, the assistance rates are too low to raise many households above the poverty line.The report offered several recommendations to help alleviate food insecurity, such as better support for those on low incomes, providing more affordable housing and creating better financial supports for seniors on fixed pensions.The key, it said, is to address low incomes as well as the skyrocketing costs of living — not one or the other. • ANALYSISInflation is cooling. The cost of living crisis is not • Grocers called back to Parliament to testify about plans to stabilize pricesHelwig said her church is leaning on donations and food rescue programs to keep the service running, though donors — like consumers — are also struggling to pay grocery bills. She said church volunteers have never turned anyone away, but they're not providing as much as she wishes they could."I can tell you people have gone away with some pretty strange and unsatisfying meals sometimes," she said. "Like, 'Here's a granola bar and a hard-boiled egg that got cracked while it was being cooked and a slice of bread.' "It's sometimes definitely not what we would want to be giving people."