Perishable Food Recovery Program

The overall purpose of our organization is to assist in the relief of hunger and poverty by providing food hampers regularly to people on low income or in an emergency situation. Further, we work to provide an environment of inclusion by providing volunteer opportunities that promote a better understanding of the families or individuals who require support from the community. We are committed to remaining non-secular and non-political, and excel in creating partnerships with other organizations and companies that share our commitment

to improving the lives of those in need. All of our efforts are made within a framework of low overhead to maximize every dollar to our clients’ advantage. We are very proud of our

dedicated group of volunteers and employees and they have embraced the Perishable Food Recovery Program to serve not only our clients but also the wider spread of people in our community in need of food security. We believe the Perishable Food Recovery Program is the way of the future from a social, economic and environmental perspective because it is the right thing to do. We are diverting an average of 1 million pounds of food from landfills per year.

Present Status With the Perishable Food Recovery Program

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Friends in Need Food Bank Society already has an outstanding track record of ensuring their clients are being provided with quality food through established relationships with food retailers and wholesalers, as well as strong relationships with local farmers to ensure food is provided to fresh farm feed when it is not fit for human consumption. However, the perishable items, especially dairy and meat, have always been a challenging product area due to the requirements of ensuring the “cold chain” (being able to maintain safe internal temperatures during the handling of products) is maintained during transport and storage to ensure product safety.

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We have been able to upgrade all of our transportation vehicles and on-site refrigeration through grants from Food Banks BC, the Government of BC, Food Banks Canada, Enterprise Canada and the Wal-Mart Foundation. We have all the necessary equipment to maintain the “cold chain.”

We have also established a stand-alone Perishable Food Recovery Facility located in the Maple Ridge downtown core. Since the beginning of the operation in June 2019 this program has been collecting data using FoodMesh and with this data, we have been able to obtain a grant for expansion to bring more of our major grocery stores into the program. This grant was funded through Food Banks Canada and the Wal-Mart Foundation.

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Data Supporting the Success of the Program

In June 2019, the Perishable Food Recovery Facility opened, and we began picking up totes every day from the four Save-On-Foods stores in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. The food is sorted, weighed and recorded using the FoodMesh Data Collection Program. We now have No Frills, Great Canadian Superstore, FreshCo and Wal-Mart participating. As of July 2023 we have repurposed 1.9 million kg of food previously destined for landfills. Of that 50% has been distributed to clients of the food banks in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows as well as a number

of our community organizations and agencies dealing with food insecurity. Using industry accepted calculators, the following can be reported.

$5.5 million is the Charity Donation Value ($5.70/kg donated value)

More than 5 million kg. of CO2 Emissions have been saved

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Benefits of the Program

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Improving the health profile of our communities
Diverting food from landfills, repurposing it and reducing the carbon footprint of our communities
Supporting food retailers in improving their performance in the area of waste reduction, which is beneficial to society as a whole
Improving educational outcomes for youth by ensuring they are adequately nourished, allowing them to concentrate on their classroom studies

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Providing further leadership within the area of establishing and maintaining strong inter-agency partnerships
Providing our volunteers with an improved workspace to support our clients better
For a short video on Friends in Need Food Bank Society’s Perishable Food Recovery Program, please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAH2iI_0hPc.
For further information, please contact Mary Robson, Executive Director at Friends in Need Food Bank Society at Director@FriendsNeedFood.com.

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