I'm not going to deny that my recent penchant for canning is directly related to my concerns over a potential recession combined with rising food prices.

So far this year, I've made lots of tomato sauce, salsa, pickled beets, pickled carrots, and canned pears.

I'm hoping to stock my cold cellar with jars and jars of food, just in case there are a couple of lean months over the next year.

I also made a batch of pickled jalapenos, but that had more to do with my love of heat.

I enjoy canning. Most of the product used in making my various jars of joy came from my own backyard.

I planted 21 tomato plants this year, and it was a good yield. The peppers also came from my garden, and the pears were picked from my very own tree. All the spices used also came from my garden.

I feel very fortunate to have a home, and a big garden, and the ability to can foods.

Especially when a lot of people in this city go hungry every day. It's absolutely frightening how deeply poverty affects this community.

Consider these stats, released earlier this week by Hamilton Food Share:

•: In March 2008, 9,284 adults and 6,227 children used services at their local foodbank

•: More than 95,000 residents in Hamilton live below the poverty line

•: 36 per cent of families accessing food banks are single parent

•: 54 per cent of people accessing food banks are on Ontario Works, while 21 per cent are on Ontario Disability (ODSP)

•: More than 6,300 households in Hamilton will reach out to a food bank for help every month

•: Children make up 40 per cent of the total people who access a food bank

•: 81 per cent of parents who visit a food bank sacrifice their own food so their children can eat

•: Typically, a food bank gives out three days of food

•: 89 per cent is the increase to average heating costs in the past five years

•: $4.10 per day is the amount a single parent with one child on Ontario Works has for food

We often hear about hunger in far away lands, however, the poverty within our own community is deep and painful.

It breaks my heart to think that children go to school each day without breakfast. I can't imagine how the parent(s) of these children must feel, knowing they cannot provide the most basic necessity to their families. This situation is a shame not only for these parents, but also for our community as a whole.

However, Hamilton has always been a very giving community.

Thanks to the generosity of people across this city, our food banks are able to assist those in the most desperate of financial situations.

Food banks in this community were never intended to become a social safety net for such a large proportion of people, but economic conditions, the loss of good jobs, and the cycle of poverty, has made their role so very important in meeting basic needs of the poor.

In order to do our part to assist Hamilton Food Share and its associate food banks through the community, our newspaper group is launching a five-week project and taking up the Fight Against Hunger. We are teaming up with Hamilton Food Share for a food drive and fundraiser. The idea was brought forth by one of our sales staff - Cathy Richardson - who was touched by the stories of desperation for area food banks this past summer.

Representing the Ancaster News, Dundas Star News, Hamilton Mountain News, Stoney Creek News and the Real Estate News and Buyers Guide, Hamilton Community News and its generous advertisers will spearhead an initiative to fill the shelves at food banks throughout Hamilton.

We hope our readers will get involved and learn more about this Fight Against Hunger by reading the special insert in the next five editions of your community newspaper. This section is sponsored by local business, and they are donating funds directly to Hamilton Food Share. Look for our special feature listing food drive drop off locations and participating businesses. Organize a food drive at your school, or through your church, and let us know about it. We will share your initiative with the community.

I'd be happy to donate some of my canned goods, but I know the main request is for non-perishable food items. Cash also goes a long way, with each dollar donated turning into $10 worth of food for Hamilton Food Share.

Together, we can all fight hunger.