(Photo courtesy Brendan Miller)

By Brendan Miller

Food bank program rescues food destined for landfills

Mar 31, 2023 | 4:47 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Have you ever wondered what happens to food in grocery stores that can’t be sold because it’s about to expire?

In Medicine Hat, hundreds of pounds of food that can’t be sold is recovered. Instead of being tossed into the garbage, it’s used to feed people in the community through the innovative Food Collab program.

Every morning, the Root Cellar Food and Wellness Hub truck travels to all the local grocery stores to collect food that can’t be sold on store shelves. The food picked up is a ” mixture between produce and meat and canned goods and it’s all sorts of things,” said Melissa Mullis, Executive Director.

That food, sometimes as much as several pallets, is then brought to the warehouse of the Root Cellar. Food that is collected is properly stored in coolers and freezers to make it lasts even longer.

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As a result, the Root Cellar is able to offer a wider variety of food to residents. Mullis said most food banks are not able to provide the amount of produce the Root Cellar can. “Things like salads, things like fruits and vegetables, those are things that are really expensive in store and our families are able to get really good nutrition from our emergency food pantry,” added Mullis.

One of the stores participating in the program is the IGA on Maple Avenue. Owner Lawton Wong said they’re able to provide numerous types of bread, buns and canned goods. “I mean in this day and age the way things are, everybody can use as much help as they can get,” stated Wong. To see people that aren’t going to go hungry, your kids aren’t going to go to school hungry. I mean it’s just a great feeling to see that happen because nobody wants to see that happen to anybody in this community, “stated Wong.

Donations that cannot be given to clients of the food bank are instead given to local farmers for feed for their animals. In turn, those farmers donate a portion of the meat from the animals back to the Root Cellar once harvested.

“We are just really grateful that they are a part of this program and we’re able to reduce stuff going into the landfill,” stated Mullis

In 2022 the Root Cellar recovered 829,107 pounds of food which is the equivalent of $678,993. That food was used to make 291,683 meals to feed the community.