Half-price strawberries in stacked pallets and freshly gleaned spinach from a farm sit in a food bankB次元官网网址檚 walk-in fridge waiting to be redistributed.

B次元官网网址淭here might be a few blemishes but you can just cut that off. ItB次元官网网址檚 still good,B次元官网网址� says Sieg Bressmer, holding a pack of deep red strawberries at EdmontonB次元官网网址檚 Food Bank in the northwest part of the city.

It all has to be used within two to three days, says Bressmer, whose job is to pick food off pallets of rescued produce every week from over 200 grocery stores in the city, including Loblaws, No Frills, Safeway and Sobeys.

The food bank has long relied on gleaning, a reference to the biblical practice of picking leftover produce from a freshly harvested farm that would otherwise go to waste. Gleaning, a type of passive charity, was practised from biblical times until the late 18th century.

Ahead of its time, the food bank in Edmonton, once known as the Gleaners Association, became the first food-rescuing organization in Canada in 1981.

Gerard Kennedy, one of the groupB次元官网网址檚 first volunteers and later the first executive director of EdmontonB次元官网网址檚 Food Bank, says the idea was to reduce food waste and serve hungry families. By 1985, the group was gleaning over 70 per cent of its supply from the food industry, including retailers, farmers and manufacturers.

Kennedy remembers how at first people didnB次元官网网址檛 want a food bank. Back then, he says, people were against the idea of giving out free food instead of earning a living.

B次元官网网址淏ut what prevailed was the practicality that food should not go to waste,B次元官网网址� says Kennedy, who served as a Liberal education minister in Ontario from 2003 to 2006.

Forty years on, he says, the role of a food bank has shifted B次元官网网址� from focusing on gleaning surplus food to attending to greater needs of people who are visiting food banks more frequently.

Marjorie Bencz, the current executive director of EdmontonB次元官网网址檚 Food Bank, says about B次元官网网址�60 per cent of our food coming in through our doors is gleaned.B次元官网网址�

Gleaning is more relevant today, she says, with a focus on the environment and sustainability alongside food rescue. Last year, more than three million kilograms of food was gleaned in Edmonton, Bencz says.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 about a community feeding the community.B次元官网网址�

Bressmer, who is also a chef, says modern-day gleaning isnB次元官网网址檛 about procuring food from farms but seeing whatB次元官网网址檚 good beyond the best-before date and how it can be given to those in need.

B次元官网网址淧eople have a misconception about the expiry dates and best-before dates,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淭he best-before are manufacturing dates to measure the optimum flavour of the food.B次元官网网址�

He trains people at the food bank to examine items, including baked goods and fresh produce, to see whatB次元官网网址檚 suitable for human consumption. They check for mould, blemishes or discoloration. Food that isnB次元官网网址檛 good anymore goes to animals.

The only downside to rescued food is that organizations donB次元官网网址檛 get to control the quantity or choose the items, says Maggie Borowiec of Moisson Montr茅al.

B次元官网网址淭his is food that (manufacturers) would like to sell but werenB次元官网网址檛 able to,B次元官网网址� she says. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 surplus food and their options are to either throw it or give it away.B次元官网网址�

The organization says 49 per cent of its food last year was rescued from places higher up in the supply chain. About 17 per cent was leftovers from grocery stores.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e fortunate in Montreal that there are a lot of food manufacturing companies, like a meat production company that gives away its surplus deli,B次元官网网址� says Borowiec.

Loblaw, CanadaB次元官网网址檚 largest grocery retailer, says on its website that it gave away more than 6.8 million kilograms of food to partner agencies, including Second Harvest, last year. It has set a goal of zero food to landfill by 2030.

To extend the shelf life of rescued produce, Moisson Montr茅al also uses an antimicrobial solution called Chinook 110, for delaying spoilage, Borowiec says.

Despite efforts to rescue and glean food, Graham Hill of Second Harvest says over 60 per cent of all food produced in Canada is lost and wasted every single year.

Most would have been edible, he says.

Hill, the chief revenue officer at Second Harvest, says the organization rescued one of its largest amounts of food last year B次元官网网址� over 24 million kilograms.

B次元官网网址淭he reason youB次元官网网址檙e seeing an increase is (because) people are becoming more environmentally conscious about the impacts of food loss and waste.B次元官网网址�

Hill says thereB次元官网网址檚 still a lot of food being lost in a rich country where people are struggling with food insecurity.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 not saying that rescued food is the answer for food insecurity. But while we have surplus food in the system, it is our duty to be able to connect as much surplus food to Canadians (as possible).B次元官网网址�

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