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It all started when we began to recognize the sheer quantity of food being thrown out every day.
It all started when we began to recognize the sheer quantity of food being thrown out every day. Food insecurity is a huge problem in London, Ontario and we realized if we could find a way to safely redistribute food that is destined for the dumpster we could help make sure no one in the community was going hungry. Fresh food is integral to many different community programs in the city so we banded together to create the London Food Coalition.
In October of 2017, we were able to purchase a refrigerated truck with help from the City of London. The truck cost $62,000, which is the almost the same value as the food collected and distributed every month. The London Food Coalition truck allows us to safely transport edible food from bakeries, restaurants, and grocery stores and drop it off at our food hub. From there, the food is sorted and repacked in storage bins for redistribution to our partner agencies.
“The idea was to create a really sustainable plan,” says London Food Coalition’s founding partner, Douglas Whitelaw. “All of these member agencies are spending money on food to feed their clients, so why not take some of that existing budget and move it from purchasing food to collecting it together?”
It’s the perfect win, win, win scenario. The financial buy-in ensures the upkeep of the truck and other ancillary administration and marketing fees, while providing a value of up to ten times the price of the monthly $100 contribution. Our partners receive high-quality fresh food from grocery stores, which they can now use for family cooking programs, nutritional and educational programming, camp programs, and healthy meals for children and families.