Perishable Food Recovery Program - BC Food Banks

Over $6 Billion of food is wasted in BC every year; healthy food that is sent to landfills, when it could be redirected to feed hungry families.

To address the urgent need to reduce this unbearable waste and get more fresh and healthy food onto the tables of British Columbians, Food Banks BC launched the Perishable Food Recovery Program. A $10 million grant from the province allowed for the purchase of walk-in coolers and freezers, refrigerated trucks and related infrastructure which allowed food bank members to create their own local food recovery programs. With this equipment, food banks are able to massively increase their capacity to accept, handle and store large quantities of fruit, produce, milk, cheese, and meat. Local food banks partner with grocery stores to retrieve and distribute edible food that is no longer deemed "saleable." This in turn means that the 100,000+ clients who access food banks services in BC every month have a broader access to healthy, nutritious, delicious food items.