Total food bank use in Manitoba in March was up 3.4 per cent over the year before, and 57.6 per cent compared with 2008, when the recession hit and food bank use across Canada shot upward.Nationally, 852,137 people used a food bank in March, including 305,065 children, and food bank use was up 1.3 per cent over the year before and 26.1 per cent compared to 2008."It has now been seven years since the global economic downturn yet the need continues to hover at record high levels," said Katharine Schmidt, executive director of Food Banks Canada, at a press conference on Parliament Hill Tuesday.