Partnering with Food Banks Canada: learning more about food insecurity and how our holiday bag is supporting their cause this season
For those who may be unfamiliar with Food Banks Canada, can you explain what it’s all about?
Essentially, food banks across the country strive to provide the most nutritious food to those living with food insecurity. When entering a food banks across Canada, individuals who don’t have access to fresh, nutritious food will most often find themselves surrounded by a variety of food, including fresh produce, frozen meat, and shelf-stable items that families would normally purchase at the grocery store. It is important to note that 40% of food distributed by Canadian food banks is fresh! Our mission is ultimately to reduce hunger today and prevent hunger tomorrow. Reducing hunger today is more about addressing immediate need in our communities’ food insecurity, and preventing hunger tomorrow is about getting to the root causes of the problem, and the way we do that is to advocate for policy change.
40% of food distributed by Canadian food banks is fresh!
Can you tell me about a few areas at Food Banks Canada that will be supported through the money raised by our holiday bag this season?
Absolutely! There are so many exciting community programs we have that would be supported through the purchase of Anita’s Organic holiday bag of All Purpose Flour, I will highlight just two major programs that many of these community programs stem from.
Food Sharing Program
Remember that part of our mission statement, reducing hunger today? In a big country like Canada, food is abundant, but unfortunately, $31 billion worth of good food ends up in landfills or composters each year. Food Banks Canada saw this quality surplus food as one potential food source for those who are struggling to put food on the table. The aim of the program is to facilitate access to safe, quality food that is excess at retailers in communities across the country. This program ensures that essential food can reach food banks more quickly and can include anything from fresh and frozen items to non-perishable foods.
Research and Advocacy
Now let’s talk more about the latter part of our mission statement, preventing hunger tomorrow! This is what we focus on with our research and advocacy program: finding long term solutions, and we do that through our large research projects based on the demand for food banks and the reasons individuals need and rely on food banks. Doing this research is so important since it is used as advocacy and evidence that is often needed for the government to take action through our policy recommendations.
I know it is a huge topic that we won’t be able to cover in this one interview, but can you elaborate more about the issues surrounding food insecurity in Canada and how Food Banks Canada contributes to helping solve these issues?
Of course! It is a much more in-depth topic than what we could cover today. We know that 1 in 8 households in Canada are food insecure. One of the many aspects that Food Banks Canada is working to solve the issue of hunger involves our National Food Sharing Program. Since 2010, Food Banks Canada has sourced and shared almost 1.5 billion pounds of food. It is hard to fathom that every year billions of dollars of quality excess food is wasted throughout all levels of the food chain - from farmers, producers, processors, retailers and households! We work hard to acquire safe, nutritious, good quality food and essential consumer products that can be shared across the network of food banks across the country. So, by decreasing the amount of healthy and edible food going to the landfill, we can strive for improvements in our environment and help those living with food insecurity. This is not the total solution to food insecurity by any means but part of the complex puzzle. Food Banks Canada is a member of the National Zero Waste Council. They have a very practical guidelines on food that is suitable for donation.
1 in 8 households in Canada are food insecure. Since 2010, Food Banks Canada has sourced and shared almost 1.5 billion pounds of food.
How can anyone reading this help?
This season, Anita’s Organic has created a custom designed holiday bag for our best selling All Purpose Flour in support of Food Banks Canada. For every bag purchased, Anita’s will donate $1 with the goal of raising $25,000 to support their work in helping those facing food insecurity. Keep your eyes our at your local grocery store and follow @anitasorganic on Instagram and Facebook to find these limited edition bags. Shop with purpose and #makeitwithanitas this season! For more information regarding how this money will be used to contribute, visit the links provided below to learn more about what Food Banks Canada does!