New pay-what-you-feel "Rescued Food Market" opening soon in Vancouver

Sep 22 2021, 5:12 pm

You don’t have to subsist on eggshells and compost your carrot tops to make a difference when it comes to food waste.

The Food Stash Foundation is opening their Rescued Food Market in Olympic Village next month.

The market, a first of its kind in Vancouver, will kick off on October 1 and will be open Fridays from 3:30 pm to 5 pm at 340 West 2nd Avenue.

“This inclusive market is run on a pay what you feel model, providing a welcoming space for zero-waste enthusiasts, households suffering from food insecurity, and curious community members,” says Food Stash in a release.

To help combat food waste and provide affordability, they save excess food from farms and grocery stores that would otherwise be thrown out.

Ontario’s Kindness Cafe inspired the “pay what you feel” structure. The phrase helps to eliminate the “element of shame associated with not being able to afford the rising costs of food while also creating a greater sense of belonging.”

Just outside the building, the new market has a community fridge in collaboration with the Vancouver Community Fridge Project. It will be stocked with free food available for anyone.

The Food Stash FoundationĀ charity is a Vancouver-based charity created in 2016 after founder David Schein was inspired by the local documentary Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story.

Today, the foundation rescues more than 70,000 pounds of food each month and redistributes it to members and partner charities.

Now, their new Rescued Food Market will continue the conversation around food waste, and you can drop by this fall on a Friday to see what’s too fresh to go to waste.

Sarah AndersonSarah Anderson

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