Vancouver organization selling "rescue food" boxes for just $50 shuts down
Despite an influx of orders, a food rescue organization that aimed to make food financially accessible to locals and fight food waste has shut down.
Since Daily Hive reported on the work of Vancouver Food Rescue last week, over 100 new registrations rolled in, Program Manager Quille Kaddon said. However, she added that the attention came at a detrimental cost.
“We have been cut off from our regular Safeway food donations and will not be able to fulfill any orders,” the email shared with customers reads. “Effective immediately, we will discontinue our food box program until this issue can be resolved or a new donation source can be found.”
The organization claims “a larger, more influential food rescue organization called Second Harvest” is the reason the program was shut down.
“Second Harvest… has intervened with the four Safeways we were picking up food donations from, and told them that they have a contract to uphold with Second Harvest where food donated cannot be resold in any format,” Kaddon told Daily Hive. “As a result, the four Safeways have cancelled their agreements with us and will no longer support us with donations.”
“This is not an accurate representation,” Second Harvest responds
Second Harvest is Canada’s largest food rescue organization and works with food businesses and then connects food to charities and non-profit organizations.
“Whether it is a shelter in Vancouver or a meal program in Iqaluit, Second Harvest is proud to support partners across the country,” its site reads. “Our goal: that no Canadian is left behind.”
In a response to Daily Hive regarding the claims that the organization caused its program to shut down, Second Harvest CEO Lori Nikkel said, “This is not an accurate representation.”
“We did, however, notify Safeway when we learned that Vancouver Food Rescue was selling food through an article in the Daily Hive,” she added.
Nikkel explained that charities and non-profits must agree and adhere to the terms and conditions of the Second Harvest Food Rescue App.
“Our terms and conditions are a critical component that ensures Second Harvest, the charities/non-profits we support, and food industry partners are aligned and protected,” she said. “One of these conditions is that social service organizations are not allowed to sell the donated food they receive. By selling food in this manner, Vancouver Food Rescue stopped being in compliance with Second Harvest’s terms and conditions.”
“The loss of the program will affect us all”: VFR
Until December 7, Vancouver Food Rescue sold food boxes filled with goods from local grocery stores that had reached a best-before date. These boxes include 40 to 50 pounds of meats, fish, eggs, dairy, fresh vegetables and fruit, bread, and desserts for $50 to people in the Lower Mainland.
In an example Kaddon provided Daily Hive, a Mystery Box could be worth over $300 if purchased in a grocery store.
Vancouver Food Rescue
Kaddon said Vancouver Food Rescue’s clientele of nearly 400 people, including people who are disabled and elderly, depended on its low-cost food boxes.
“I know this troubling news comes at a most inconvenient time as we enter the holiday season and are trying to make our dollars stretch,” Vancouver Food Rescue wrote to its customers. “I know that the loss of the program will affect us all.”
A small staff and volunteers made up Vancouver Food Rescue, and according to a letter penned to Nikkel, Kaddon explained the Vancouver Food Rescue attempted to be self-sustaining by selling boxes of food at a low cost.
“The total amount of funds we collect for one whole year is less than $50,000, which is not even enough to pay one full-time staff,” she wrote. “With those funds, we pay our administration, our bookkeeper and accountant, storage for our fridges and freezers, transport, fuel, supplies, and insurance among other expenses.”
Vancouver Food Rescue
Kaddon wrote the letter to Nikkel in response to Vancouver Food Rescue’s donors cutting them off from donations.
“We have a number of clients, who are mostly elderly shut-ins, who are unable to access food bank services and vitally depend on our food box home-delivery program,” the letter continues. “They and many others would be lost without our help and shutting down our program would plunge many people into deep food insecurity.”
Kaddon urged Second Harvest to help Vancouver Food Rescue find a solution to allow the program to run again.
“While we believe that keeping great food from becoming waste is admirable, this is not the intent of the Second Harvest App alone,” Nikkel added in the response to Daily Hive. “It is also to ensure this food gets to communities that need it most.”
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