BGC Dawson's frozen meal program tackles food insecurity and waste in Verdun
Meals made from surplus food replaced weekly community lunches
During the month of December, CBC will be working with BGC Dawson to showcase stories of people in our community who are making a difference for our "Make the Season Kind" campaign. For more stories and to learn more about this campaign, visit cbc.ca/bekindqc and make a donation here.
On any given Wednesday, you can go to BGC Dawson in Verdun with a $10 bill and get yourself three full, healthy meals for the rest of the week.
As part of their food sustainability program, the community centre in the southwestern Montreal borough offers meals made from surplus produce and other items from their food bank once a week.
What isn't used at the food bank is carefully sorted by the cooking team, who then transform it all into healthy meals. From spaghetti to veggie curry to kimchi, they can make up to 200 meals per week.
"People are getting fed straight up," said Marc Mckeown, the head chef at BGC Dawson. "There's no ifs, ands or buts about it. And you can rest easy knowing that if you donate here, it's going to the right place and going back to the community."
The frozen meals never cost more than the suggested donation of $3. The goal, its staff says, is food sustainability and food security in their community.
If people can't afford the suggested price, Mckeown says they won't be turned away.
Single mom Louise Gingerysty said she loves getting frozen meals from the market because it allows her to spend more time with her daughter. Instead of spending an hour in the kitchen after work, she can just pop a meal in the oven.
"I went, 'Wow I'm never cooking again!'" she said. "For $12 I'll pick up two meals and two desserts and we have enough for dinner and leftovers for lunch."
Prior to the pandemic, BGC Dawson's community lunch program would get people together for a meal and to chat every Tuesday, where anyone was welcome to join.
When COVID-19 hit, they had to find a way to adapt to health restrictions — and the frozen meals program was started.
Food insecurity is a growing problem in Montreal. According to Centraide of Greater Montreal, just under 30 per cent of adults had trouble getting food during lockdowns.
With many residents losing work due to the pandemic, volunteers say they've seen a rise in demand from people who lack access to secure food resources in the last two years.
"People are really grateful, and we have a lot of clients," said volunteer and longtime member Elizabeth Shearon.
"They can't believe that we can produce what we do at such a low cost and [so] tasty."
As part of their sustainability mandate, nothing is ever wasted. What isn't used ends up being recycled or composted, so none of the food will see the inside of a garbage bin.
"I do really feel that this program and programs like it can serve as a really good model for how we proceed in the future," said food recuperator and cook Kasha Chang.
"For us to be able to contribute to not only reducing food waste but actually feeding families and seniors and people who are in need of food in the area is so important."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
with files from Chloe Ranaldi