Shelf life extended: Shipping container stores food destined for low-income families

A Salt Spring Island group has found a way to rescue soon-to-expire food items before grocery stores throw them out and — and now delivers that food to low-income families throughout the community.

Simone Cazabon, the food security coordinator for Salt Spring Island Community Services, said fruits, vegetables, dairy and other perishable items are often thrown out in grocery stores while they are still edible.

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Data is still being collected on the exact numbers of food waste on Salt Spring Island but estimates suggest around 30 per cent of produce is tossed, Cazabon told CBC's host of All Points West Jason D'Souza.

"We are starting to collect yogurt and things that are best-before that are still sealed," she said. "Even baby food gets turned off the shelf three months before the best-before date for insurance so we're even able to salvage those kinds of things."

Three times a week, Cazabon drives her brown van to Thrifty Foods and Country Grocer, which have both agreed to donate food items that would otherwise be binned because they are about to expire.

She collects the items the stores have set aside — food that is still perfectly good to eat — and brings it back to the refrigerated container.

From shipping container to fridge

The biggest issue with collecting perishable goods, Cazabon said, is finding a way to store and distribute them swiftly. That's how she came up with the idea of taking a six-metre-long shipping container and turning it into a giant fridge to keep the items cool until they are handed out.

"Opposed to the food bank, where you have a lot of dried goods and canned goods that can store well for a long time, with fresh produce it needs to be dealt with within a few days," she said. "It needs to be stored and then delivered quickly."

'It's such a big relief'

After she collects food from the grocery stores, Cazabon then distributes it to low-income families, community kitchens and seniors programs.

"Some of them, especially if they are are on income-assistance, might only have 50 dollars to spend for the rest of the month," Cazabon said. "So if they don't have to spend money on food, especially the ones with kids, it's such a big relief."

Cazabon said the program has already made a difference.

"I have one mother who was crying because she was stressing about it so much, staying up all night worrying about the nutritional benefits her kids were lacking," Cazabon said.

The food rescue program has brought the community together, Cazabon said, and she's been overwhelmed with the positive feedback it has received.

"People are lending out support for consulting or signing cheques or just caring and participating," she said. "It's a collective story of many people feeling excited about the project."

With files from All Points West.