A successful Quebec City food bank pilot project will expand as more retailers have signed on to donate food that is nearing the end of its shelf life to those who need it.
Moisson Quebec launched its supermarket recovery program 18 months ago with five grocery store partners. That number has since expanded to 15, including branches of several large chains, including Provigo, Maxi, Metro, Super C and IGA.
“We know that people are very concerned with the fact that supermarkets have a lot of loss of merchandise. We'd like to reduce that loss, and if we can join our efforts to Moisson Quebec, we're pleased with that,” said Jean Falardeau, director of retail operations for IGA.
On Monday, the food bank said they have set a goal of 40 partners by March, 2018.
The Quebec provincial government has promised to contribute $375,000 to the project, which will go towards trucks, industrial freezers and refrigerators and other infrastructure.
They say will save more than 800,000 kilograms of food each year.
“We bring them to into the refrigerators, we sort them, we make sure that everything is well-packaged, and then we make sure that we bring them back to the freezers and then we send them back to the associations,” said Moisson Quebec’s Andre Girard.
The various associations then help the more than 38,000 people in the Quebec City region who turn to food banks.
“The economy in Quebec City is good, but there's a lot of poverty. People live in poverty and we have to find solutions to help those people,” said Francois Blais, minister of employment and social solidarity.
In 2013, Moisson Montreal launched a similar program, singing up more than 90 grocery stores on the island and South Shore.
“They were the first to really test it and to see how it works and the logistics also of the program. So they started the program and it went very well,” said Girard.
