“When you sign up for a class, if it's a paid class, all proceeds go straight to the food bank. Our goal with this space is for people in the community to sign up and learn to cook, learn new skills and recipes,” says Tucker, owner of Cook with Meg and partner with the food bank.
The hamper client classes are offered free of charge and teach users what meals they can make to make the most of the items they receive, as well as how to store food to make it last the longest.
“More than 20 billion pounds of food is wasted in Canada every year, so if we can teach people how to store food in the fridge, cook it, reuse it and serve it, we create more space around the table and healthier, happier communities,” adds Mitch Thomson, executive director of the food bank. “That will help us reach our goal of alleviating hunger today and preventing hunger tomorrow.”
As part of its waste reduction efforts, the food bank has also partnered with a local pig farmer to collect leftover food and past-due livestock from these classes to use as pig feed.
“We're proud to have maintained a zero food waste record for the past 30 months, which is a testament to our efficient operations,” Thomson said.
Last year, the food bank served a total of 70,219 clients, of whom 27,700 received emergency food assistance. Thomson said about a third of clients have been living in Canada for 10 years or less.
One of the kitchen's goals is to bring a multicultural perspective to teach customers how to use the staple (and sometimes unfamiliar) ingredients in their shopping baskets and to help them discover new ways to use those staples.
“With this kitchen, we want to bring the flavors of the world to Red Deer and allow everyone in the community to share their cultures, their cuisines, come together as a community and learn together. We'll be bringing in guest speakers – cooks, chefs and culinary experts – to share cuisines from around the world,” Thomson said.
Throughout the class, samples of items from a shopping basket a family would typically receive were displayed to visually communicate what they have to work with and why it's important to make the most of it.
In the first four months of 2024, the food bank served 500 more households than in the same period in 2023.
“The Red Deer Food Bank is in an extremely challenging situation. The ongoing demand over the last three years has been record breaking, with each year significantly higher than the previous year, so much of our stockpile has been depleted. From an operational standpoint, we don't have the cash flow to keep fridges full or to stock coolers with large amounts of meat and fresh produce, and we don't have the resources available to make strategic purchases,” Thomson said.
Thompson said cash donations are best for anyone wanting to help with the situation, but they're always grateful for any food donations they receive as well.
“We're managing to keep our heads above water, but only just,” he says. “We just encourage anyone who has the ability to donate to do so if they can. With our coffers and cupboards so empty, we're really in financial danger. Anyone who has the ability to donate can make a difference to the lives of so many people in our community.”
But even in uncertain times, the organization continues to get creative and strive to better serve its community.
Work is currently underway to make the building more accessible for those who use mobility aids, and we are introducing tools to help staff better communicate with people who have visual, hearing and cognitive impairments.
In addition to setting up Kitchen 49, the group is also installing underwater canisters with hydroponic growing equipment to help grow more vegetables on-site.
READ MORE: Red Deer Food Bank celebrates 40 years of supporting the community
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Ashley Lavallee Koenig
