Regional Food Procurement Network Feasibility Study & Pilot Project
The Golden Food Bank is pleased to announce an exciting project bringing more food into our community and wider region!
Following a steep rise in food prices and demand for our Food Bank in 2022, we quickly realized that our usual means of supplying food for the program was insufficient to keep up with the number of community members coming to our doors. Nearly overnight, we went from spending $200-300 every couple of weeks to supplement what we received in donated and recovered food to purchasing thousands of dollars of food each month to keep our shelves and fridges stocked. Realizing the unsustainability in the prices we were paying, we set out to discover how a more collaborative approach with other food banks might offset rising costs and keep up with the rising level of food insecurity in our communities.
Together with food banks in Invermere, Revelstoke, and Sicamous in 2023, and supported by funding from an anonymous philanthropic donor, Land to Table Network was engaged to undertake a Rural Food Banks Feasibility Study exploring a collaborative approach across four rural food banks to address unprecedented demand. The feasibility study concluded in Spring 2024, with a formal report of insights and recommendations.
The report highlights data and trends of the rural food security landscape, a detailed cost comparison of rural and urban food banks, the potential for cost recovery models, recommendations for the future, and so much more.
As outlined in the study, rates of poverty and food insecurity are soaring in Canada, and food bank usage has climbed rapidly to an all-time high. Across the country, 18.4% of households were found to be food insecure. Last year in BC, 127 reporting food banks saw 195,925 visits - a 57% increase since 2019. At the same time, donations are down across the country. Food banks are increasingly being called upon to do more with less, and our individual and collective capacity to address food insecurity in our communities is being challenged.
The study outlined the following trends for rural food banks:
-Fewer opportunities for local food recovery
-Reduced access to food (recovered and donated)
-Oversubscribed food bank services
-Less affordable food for purchase
-Lack of storage space
-Greater reliance on grant funding
-Higher percentages of our town/city populations served
-Limited donor base
The primary recommendation for a pilot project was creating a shared coordinator position to reduce the financial impact on our individual food banks to scale capacity to meet increased community demand. A shared staff position could focus on a collaborative approach to food procurement, and support program development, inventory management, relationship building, and infrastructure development. With the greater availability of recovered and low-cost food in urban centers, we saw an opportunity to increase rural food access through the work of a shared coordinator to navigate the financial and logistical challenges of getting more of this food into our communities. The development of cost-recovery models was also identified as an important avenue for sustainability in the face of heightened demand and growing food insecurity, with joint procurement allowing us to get better prices for the growing number of people who have some income for food but being priced out of the grocery store. (The GFB’s Neighbours Market pilot program and $10 Meal Kits are examples of cost-recovery programs, where some of the of the costs to operate the program are re-couped).
Following the release of the study and a continued interest from an anonymous donor to explore the potential of a regional approach to food procurement and cost recovery programming, we have secured two years of grant funding for a Shared Coordinator to develop a Regional Food Procurement Network!
The Golden Food Bank is pleased to be partnering with Eagle Valley Community Support Society in Sicamous and Community Connections Revelstoke on this project, and will oversee the development of the network through the work of a Procurement Network Coordinator. The purpose of the Procurement Network Coordinator is to take a regional scope in identifying sustainable and cost-effective avenues for food procurement between our three organizations, harnessing the learnings and research in the previously undertaken Feasibility Study. Through this process, we have an incredible opportunity to create strong cross-community partnerships and identify further funding and opportunities for collaboration. We are holding a vision to establish a Regional Food Procurement Network connecting food programs throughout our region.
We are thrilled to announce that Melissa Hemphill of Revelstoke, BC has been hired into this role for a two year term, beginning November 2024!
Melissa Hemphill, Food Security Specialist
Melissa's passions are all things food related. With a degree in Biochemistry from the University of Guelph and a diploma in Natural Nutrition, she has worked in developing community food security in Revelstoke for over 15 years. She helped to create Revelstoke's first community garden and establish the Local Food Initiative as a society, and continues on in a board member position. Her work in the role of Food Security Coordinator led to the development of many projects including a Food Recovery Program that has saved over 1 million pounds of food from going to the landfill, a Community Kitchen that incubates food businesses, and a permanent facility for the Food Bank and its garden.
Melissa works to build socially just and environmentally sustainable local food systems within British Columbia through a variety of projects, studies, and collaborations. When she isn't busy tackling community food security issues you can find her in the garden, on the trails, or teaching her kids the wonders of the world.
It is the intention through this pilot project to build a funding model that would sustain the Regional Food Procurement Network and the staff capacity required to run it in the long-term. We intend for the impact of this collaborative project to reach beyond the bounds of our individual food banks to support affordable food access for other rural community food programs experiencing similar challenges to ours. With effective systems for collaborative procurement and a sustainable funding model, the Regional Food Procurement Network can supply food and create interconnection between the various food programs that help feed our communities - building collective resilience to food insecurity in the years to come!
Contact melissa@goldenfoodbank.ca if you are interested in:
Donating fresh, processed, or recovered food
Supplying the network with foods for purchase at discounted rates
Providing transportation or warehouse support
Joining the network to receive food
