36


SURPLUS food “It costs money to operate


a program,” Siracky notes. “But that’s turned into $4 million worth of food so it’s a no- brainer. Now we don’t buy any perishable food items. There’s no way we could afford $4 million worth of perishable foods. There’s way more food going into the community.”


Branching out


Today, food banks in Nanaimo and Revelstoke have followed Kamloops’ example and set up their own food recovery programs. Loaves and Fishes


Community Food Bank in Nanaimo launched its program in 2012 and today recovers 12,000 to 20,000 pounds of food annually for use on local farms. Food Connect, an initiative of Community Connections in Revelstoke, which recovered more than 90,000 pounds of food in 2017, sends a similar volume to local farmers. Loaves and Fishes


executive director Peter Sinclair describes food recovery programs as one way to get healthy food into


nfrom pg 35


the hands of the people who need it, and cull product into the mouths of livestock, helping farmers produce food for the next meal. Sinclair says 20 farmers benefit from the Nanaimo program, and he’s open to more. “It’s a win for everyone,” he


says. “Everyone raves about it, whether it’s the clients who get all the healthy food to environmentally conscious people who love that it’s not going in the landfill to local farmers who are able to access this food to feed their animals, to the donors who not only save on their waste bill but see the benefits. There’s really no downside to this.”


The food bank also


benefits. Sinclair says it has an extra $10,000 a month in its budget because it no longer has to buy milk. “We had $10,000 dollars a month we could spend on trucks, wages, hydro, coolers … [and] bins,” he says. When retailers saw the


program was working, they began sending Loaves and Fishes all their surplus


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Pigs are one of the beneficiaries of recycled, outdated produce. LAURICA FARM PHOTO


perishable goods. This means more food, and more cash, for everyone – including farmers. “It’s mostly pig farmers that


take the food, then the pigs go to market and [the farmers] don’t need [the food] anymore. We want more [participants] so there’s always a consistent supply of farmers,” notes Sinclair. “I


actually raise pigs myself but I just tell everyone there’s tons of food; just come down and get it.” With billions of dollars of


food yet to be recovered, the Kamloops, Nanaimo and Revelstoke food banks have created a food recovery guide any food bank can use to establish its own program.


Food Banks BC administers provincial funding available to cover a program’s capital costs. With momentum growing


to divert waste from landfills, farmers seeking an alternative feed source for livestock have an opportunity to work with local food banks to be the change in their communities.


Alternative connections


Recovering food doesn’t require a food bank. Kendall Ballantine of Central Park Farms in Langley receives three five-ton truckloads of


food a week from a local recycling company. Sometimes it’s still in excellent shape but retailers have received fresher stock; other times, it’s past due but still in good shape. “We feed that primarily to our hogs, and then some of our cattle will get some of our


leafy greens. We also feed it to our egg-laying hens. They get watermelons and things like that,” she says. Sourcing surplus food appeals to Ballantine because she says it reduces her farm’s


carbon footprint and gives her animals a sweeter, better-tasting meat. It’s a labour-intensive way to feed livestock, however. “Instead of just opening feedbags and dumping them in, we have to go through clamshells,” she explains. “You’ve got cucumbers that come in plastic sleeves, apple pears that come in plastic mesh sleeves. It all has to be recycled, sorted. It’s actually a monumental task.” But she wouldn’t change it, even though she often sorts through product that’s mouldy,


fermenting and the next best thing to compost. “It’s definitely time consuming, but it’s a big part of what our company believes in – in


reducing our footprint,” notes Ballantine. “I think it’s unfair we get a bad rap as being meat producers. Vegetarians may say ‘oh I’m making less of an impact,’ but we get truckload after truckload after truckload of veggies that have been trucked all over the world.” —Ronda Payne


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THE ORIGINAL BIG GUN®


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