Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives say farmers should get a new tax break that could help hundreds of thousands of people using food banks.

More than 400,000 people visit food banks in Ontario every month.

In Barrie, the food bank has lots of canned goods, but is short on all fruits and vegetables. It usually is.

Today, the Tories are trying to change that.

The Conservatives are calling on the province to give farmers a tax break if they donate produce to food banks. They say many farmers have to destroy the produce they can’t sell in amounts that reportedly reach about 25 million pounds every year.

The opposition party wants the government to amend the Local Food Act to create a non-refundable tax credit worth 25 per cent of the wholesale value of the food farmers donate to food banks.

“In many instances, the food left behind is considered seconds,” says Sarnia-Lambton PC MPP Bob Bailey. “It can’t be sold in stores because of its look and colour, but just fine to eat for everyone.”

Some farmers already donate to food banks, but others can’t afford to eat up the extra costs associated with harvesting the crops and shipping them to food banks.

Morris Gervais at Barrie Hill Farms has donated asparagus, strawberries and blueberries for years and thinks the tax break will encourage others to get on board.

“You could donate the produce but the labour or the packaging costs that you would incur to donate to the food bank could be recouped, so it would definitely be an incentive, and it would be welcome,” Gervais says.

Peter Sundborg is the executive director at the Barrie Food Bank. He loves the idea to give farmers a tax break, saying it would be a win for everyone in the community.

“If we’re able to bring in fresh vegetables, fresh fruit to our clients, it just creates a whole healthier lifestyle,” Sundborg says, “which then allows those clients to be able to search for a job easier and just be overall in a better state of health.”

This wouldn’t be that expensive, according to the Conservatives. The tax break could cost the province little more than $700,000 per year.

However, since the legislature doesn’t sit again until the fall, no break will be implemented until at least the next growing season.