10 Nov Celebrating food recovery in the Fraser Valley
Across the Fraser Valley, a growing network of charities, farmers, and businesses is proving what’s possible when communities work together to keep good food out of landfills. Through the coordinated, daily efforts of the Fraser Valley Regional Food Recovery Network, surplus food from food businesses is being redirected to where it’s needed most—supporting people, animals, and the planet.
Since partnering with Fraser Valley Regional District in 2018, FoodMesh has helped build a network comprising more than 180 charities, farmers, and businesses spanning every corner of the region. Each organization plays a critical role in ensuring surplus food is recovered and put to good use, keeping it out of the Valley’s waste streams.
To date, this regional network has diverted 5.3 million KG of surplus food from landfill, rescued the equivalent of 7.3 million meals, and avoided 13.9 million KG of greenhouse gas emissions in the process.
To date, the Fraser Valley regional food recovery network has diverted 5.3 million KG of surplus food from landfill, and rescued the equivalent of 7.3 million meals
Through FoodMesh’s services—which include managed food diversion services for businesses with a regular supply of surplus food, and our free on-demand matching service for those with occasional surplus products—surplus food is put to its best possible use. Human-edible food is redistributed to hunger-relief organizations, non-human-edible food is repurposed as farm feed, and any remaining surplus is composted.
This work comes at a critical time. According to Food Banks Canada’s HungerCount 2024 report, nearly 8.7 million people—about 23% of Canadians—were living in food-insecure households in 2022/2023, an increase of almost 1.8 million people from the year before. Food recovery programs like those in the Fraser Valley are a vital part of the solution, connecting good food that would otherwise go to waste with people who need it most.
Below, we highlight a few of the organizations within the FVRD’s food recovery network that are helping make this impact possible every day.
It helps us to provide a large variety of items to our clients that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to source.
Archway Community Services Food Bank
Located in Abbotsford, BC, Archway Community Services Food Bank supports over 4,600 households each month through direct services, aid to other charities, and supplies to programs like halfway homes and youth centres.
Through the partnership, Archway collects donations from three Save-On-Foods stores—Whatcom, Clearbrook, and Sumas. The donations span all departments of the grocery store, from fresh produce and meats to dairy, bakery, and deli items. Volunteers carefully sort, clean, and categorize the food for clients, or downgrade it for farmers when needed, ensuring that nothing goes to waste.
These donations account for about 55% of Archway’s recovered food by tonnage—a contribution that is critical to sustaining their programs. Douglas Gibson, Archway’s Food Access Supervisor, explains how this steady stream of quality, diverse food means Archway can provide large, nutritious hampers full of essentials.
“It helps us to provide a large variety of items to our clients that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to source. It really helps us to not have to purchase food. It’s a battery of items so that our shelves don’t run empty. Without the Save-On-Foods supply we’re able to recover, we wouldn’t be able to stay afloat with our current size of hamper.”
The impact goes beyond nutrition. From fresh produce to birthday cakes and pies, these donations bring joy and dignity to families, especially children. At a time when Archway has seen a 79% year-over-year increase in demand since 2021, these donations are vital to keeping up with community needs.
“It’s really helped our clients be able to make it work. The fact that we’re able to provide birthday cakes, berries, fresh pies, great big watermelons to these people…people are happy, they’re excited. I’ll hear that children are excited to get home and pile into this cake and have a good time. They may otherwise not have that opportunity.”
Archway also highlights the essential role of volunteers in this process. Many come multiple times per week, some with over a decade of service, even turning it into a family activity. Their dedication ensures donations are distributed efficiently and with care.
“The role our volunteers play in handling these donations is critical. Without our volunteers, we would not be able to handle the volume of food coming in. We have volunteers who show up 3-4 days a week for 3-4 hours at a time. It means everything to them. We’ve had people express that the time they spend at the food bank gives them a lot of purpose, gives them a lot of sunshine in their day.”
Our clients are so grateful to receive the high-quality foods that we distribute to them, and we witness their decrease in food insecurity. Just removing this anxiety from their life is transformative, and has allowed many of them to make positive changes in their life.
Swallowtail Trauma Integration Society
Another key partner in the Fraser Valley is Swallowtail Trauma Integration Society, a grassroots not-for-profit that provides individual and group counselling, an internship program and recovered food for clients in need.
Between March 2021 and September 2022 alone, Swallowtail redistributed the equivalent of over 90,000 meals through their participation in the network, and that number has continued to grow. They collect surplus food from Save-On-Foods Garrison and distribute it directly to clients in need, while anything unsuitable for human consumption is fed to farm animals or composted.
Counsellor Jolene Holland shares how impactful the program has been for their community: “We are a grass-roots not-for-profit that works with FoodMesh to redistribute food to my clients. Our clients are so grateful to receive the high-quality foods that we distribute to them, and we witness their decrease in food insecurity. Just removing this anxiety from their life is transformative, and has allowed many of them to make positive changes in their life.”
Any food not needed by Swallowtail’s clients is donated to other local charities, and if there’s enough farm feed to share, it’s donated to other local farmers for their livestock.
These success stories showcase the dual impact of food recovery: supporting urgent community needs while protecting our atmosphere from harmful greenhouse gas emissions—all through the responsible management of surplus food. At a time when food security continues to rise in Canada, initiatives such as the Fraser Valley Regional District’s Food Recovery Network—powered by charity partners and farmers alike—are more important than ever.
We’re grateful to charitable partners such as Archway Community Services Food Bank and Swallowtail Trauma Integration Society—as well as the many volunteers and grocery partners that make this impact possible. Together, we’re building a more sustainable future in the Fraser Valley—one pickup at a time.
To further explore the Fraser Valley Regional District’s sustainability and food recovery efforts, visit their website, or follow along on Instagram, Facebook and X. You can also learn more about how FoodMesh supports municipalities in achieving their food waste reduction goals here.
Written by Clea Wells, FoodMesh
