You can get a huge 40-50 lb mystery box of "rescue food" in Vancouver for just $50
Editor’s note: The company has since shut down. Read the latest here.
Grocery shopping has become a stressful weekly ritual for many Canadians as prices soar. However, a small but mighty team in Vancouver is making food more financially accessible to locals and fighting food waste at the same time.
Quille Kaddon, the program manager for Vancouver Food Rescue, and her team are coming to locals’ aid by providing a surplus of food to folks in Metro Vancouver.
For $50, the food rescue organization offers a mystery box of food sourced from local grocery stores that would have been sent to the landfill.
Vancouver Food Rescue
Thanks to an agreement the organization has with four local grocery stores, it donates items they can’t sell, like perishables that have reached a best-before date, “which is not an expiration date,” the Vancouver Food Rescue insists.
A Mystery Box (which is the most popular choice) will include 40 to 50 pounds of meats, fish, eggs, dairy, fresh vegetables and fruit, bread, desserts, and “some surprises.”
“It has everything that a person needs for a week,” Kaddon said, adding that the box will probably even be too excessive for a single household.
“We realize we put too much food in the boxes,” she added. However, since the food rescue recommends ordering every week and maybe composting leftover food, people are getting fresh food weekly.
In an example Kaddon provided, a Mystery Box could be worth over $300 if purchased in a grocery store.
Vancouver Food Rescue
If you have a particular dietary need, vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, and kosher boxes are available.
A popular option, which Kaddon says is a go-to for students, seniors, and folks simply throwing a party, is the Special Restaurant Box, which goes for $60. For those who are short on time to cook, the package includes pizza, roast chicken, small meals, eggs, cut fruit, prepared salads, charcuterie, sandwiches, veg tray, fruit and desserts. These meals are usually supplied from grocery store delis.
Apart from prices having people feel ripped off during their grocery runs, product sizes and contents are also getting smaller due to “shrinkflation.” And some food manufacturers have even replaced product ingredients to cut costs.
This is why food rescue organizations can be a viable solution for many — especially during the holiday season, when many are likely to be weary of their pocketbooks.
60% of Canadian food produced lost and wasted annually
On top of our wallets feeling the strain, the planet is, too.
According to Second Harvest, Canada’s largest food rescue organization, nearly 60% (35.5 million tonnes) of food produced in Canada is lost and wasted annually.
“32% or 11.2 million tonnes of that food is edible and could be redirected to support people in our communities,” the organization reports. “The total financial value of this potentially rescuable lost and wasted food is a staggering $49.46 billion.”
While the Vancouver Food Rescue and other organizations like it are doing their best, Kaddon said, “We are maybe like a rescuing 1% of that.”
Out of the four grocery stores that donate supplies, Kaddon said only two provide dairy and meat.
“I’d say about 500 to 1,000 products of meat products will go into the garbage every single week from one single grocery store… and that’s a horrible crime,” she expressed.
Vancouver Food Rescue
Still, with just two grocery stores supplying meat products, she said, “We have an oversupply of meat.”
“So when people don’t buy our food boxes… which have a large quantity of meats in them, we have to unfortunately compost the remainder of those meats.”
Delivery, pick-up, and volunteer options
Food boxes can be delivered to homes in the West End or picked up from Vancouver Food Rescue’s Mount Pleasant or downtown location.
A small staff and volunteers make up Vancouver Food Rescue. Money collected goes toward operational costs like staffing, transport, and storage.
If you’d like to volunteer to sort food into boxes in Vancouver, the group is looking for people available on Sundays from 1 pm to 5 pm.
Vancouver Food Rescue
To order your first box or sign up to volunteer, fill out this form or visit the Vancouver Food Rescue website.
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