Welcome to the first issue of Food for Life Fresh News, our way of sharing all the GOOD that is happening at Food for Life, thanks to our amazing staff, volunteers and supporters. This newsletter was inspired by YOU, those who keep sharing your positive comments, feedback and well wishes. Thank you for keeping our team fueled up and having an impact on the lives of so many in our community along with doing a major part to reduce climate change.
I hope you will be inspired by what you read. Please share a copy with your friends and family or download an e-copy off our website or share on social media. The more people who know what we do, the bigger the impact we can all have.
Happy Reading!
Graham Hill – Executive Director
Food for Life
As the regional leader in sharing fresh surplus food, Food for Life collaborates with more than 100 community food programs across Halton and Hamilton. Many of the social service agencies provide food as part of their services.
Food for Life partnerships may look different from one another; however, they all use collaboration to source and share GOOD food for those who need it most – like Support House in Halton. A partner with Food for Life for over 5 years Support House provides support coordination, housing, and mental health services to Halton residents.
Throughout COVID, John Martin, a one-to-one adult peer support worker from Support House has seen his clients struggle to access fresh food due to increased prices and their ability to get out to the grocery stores regularly. Each week John delivers GOOD fresh food bags provided by Food for Life to his clients. “This is an invaluable partnership and benefits many people in our community,” John says. “If it wasn’t for Food for Life many of my clients wouldn’t be eating healthy and many wouldn’t eat every day.” The weekly deliveries also allow John to connect and touch base with his clients which helps their overall wellness. “Having access to fruits, vegetables and meat have made a difference in their lives. They are learning how to prepare different types of fresh food and new ways to cook.”
Food for Life remains committed to finding sustainable and impactful solutions and partners like Support House to help meet the demand for GOOD fresh food in our community to ensure none of our friends and neighbours go hungry.
To learn more about Food for Life and partners making a difference with GOOD food, visit FoodForLife.Ca
Makes six cups
Sauté vegetables to soften, add in potatoes, broth, and turkey, bring to boil for 2-3 minutes. Reduce heat to simmer for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add in milk and corn and spices and heat through.
From our beginning in 1995, Food for Life has been committed to helping people and the planet.
Our first priority was to rescue food and share it with our neighbours either directly or through our amazing, allied partners. However, as we grew, and we were able to rescue more GOOD surplus food the percentage of food that is inedible for people also grew.
“I was frustrated that whether when we sorted bulk food like carrots or going through surplus food from our partners that there was always some food that due to spoilage, shipping or natural decay was inedible for people and we were sending it to the landfill as we had no other outlet,” says Graham Hill, Executive Director at Food for Life.
An idea was born!
Supported by a grant from The Peter Gilgan Foundation, Food for Life purchased the first industrial-sized composter of any food charity in Canada. The goal was simple, divert inedible food from landfills, and get the packaging into the right waste stream.
Our compost program launched in early 2020 and then COVID-19 was upon us and our operations had to ramp down to accommodate remote work for the health and safety of our staff and volunteers. That meant our full chance to ramp up our operations was delayed, but not for long.
In mid-2021 the Government of Canada launched the Canada Food Waste Reduction Challenge and Food for Life applied with an innovatively old-school solution. We were selected as one of 24 finalists to participate in the challenge for our initiative to turn inedible food waste into worm castings (poop) in partnership with Waste Not Farms.
This exciting initiative is a replicable way to bring greater awareness to food waste, share and humanize solutions that can be implemented in every neighbourhood and reduce expenses for charities like Food for Life.
The project is ongoing and always developing – follow along on our website and social media for the latest updates and volunteer opportunities for this and our other sustainability initiatives.
Get news from Food For Life delivered right to your inbox and never miss an update.
Food for Life Canada Office
2258 Mountainside Drive
Burlington, ON L7P 1B7
905-635-1106
