Vancouver Food Runners Update
Past, Present & Next Steps
Let’s go back to the beginning. In 2019, Tristan Jagger, local fundraising professional, got involved with a food box event during the holiday season at her children’s school. Immediately concerned by the level of food insecurity she observed, this led Tristan to find out more about food security in Vancouver and beyond. The statistic she found most jarring was the fact that one in six children in B.C. go to school hungry. She also came across another unsettling fact: over 40% of the food we produce in Canada is lost or wasted each year.
These statistics, and the disconnect between them, led Tristan to explore solutions in other parts of the world. She ultimately came across an organization, 412 Food Rescue in Pittsburgh, doing remarkable work in the food recovery space. Their innovative Food Rescue Hero app and food recovery model –
essentially Uber Eats for free, surplus food, but powered by a team of volunteer food drivers – was co-created by Leah Lizarondo. Tristan and Leah met, and Tristan knew she had to bring this app technology to Vancouver. This was the start of Vancouver Food Runners.
Tristan and Michelle, VFR’s Executive Director, reconnected in November 2019. They go way back – fun fact: Tristan and Michelle grew up next door to each other in Vancouver – and Tristan brought Michelle on board as ED, as Michelle has a background in public health, research, and project management. Tristan and Michelle started connecting with other nonprofits, potential food donors, and possible funders to share about VFR. And then COVID-19 happened.
As we all know, many restaurants, cafes, and food businesses had to close for a period during this time, which was extremely challenging, but the tiny silver lining was that many didn’t want their food to go to waste. They wanted to see their surplus go to those in need, a true testament to the heart and kindness in our local food industry. This is also where VFR entered the picture.
The only problem? We didn’t have the Vancouver Food Runners app yet – it was still being developed by 412 Food Rescue for Vancouver. Enter Alison Scarlett, our Volunteer Manager. Alison didn’t know what she was signing up for. Her generous “yes” to help us out, turned into her coordinating all of VFR’s food rescues through email during the early months when we first launched. Early VFR volunteers will remember getting emails every evening outlining the next day’s rescues and then Alison would send all the details back to them via email. The fact that Alison is still VFR’s Volunteer Manager after the harried initial months is a testament to her belief the program!
The goal in the first year, 2020, was to collect the distribute 14,000 pounds of food; but thanks to VFR’s extraordinary volunteers, food donors, and community partners, VFR was able to redirect 235,000 pounds of food last year (195,000 equivalent meals). This still blows our mind a little bit. A highlight for the team was VFR being mentioned in an article by Mayor Kennedy Steward, Niki Sharma, and Kevin McCort covering the work of nonprofits during the height of the pandemic.
At the end of last year, November 2020, Chloe Leslie joined the VFR team as Program Coordinator (now Program Manager), and this is when things became more “real.” With Chole’s instrumental support on logistics, and later food donor and community partner recruitment and management, VFR continued to grow. This year has been about laying down processes and developing systems for VFR to scale in Vancouver as well as listening to our partners and volunteers through feedback surveys.
In our recent Volunteer Feedback Survey, there were some inquiries about our data. So, let’s dig into this! VFR’s initial target for 2021 was to redirect 400,000 pounds of surplus food away from the landfill to community partners. How have things been going since the beginning of the year?
Let’s have a look at the data for 2021 so far:
574,841 pounds of food redirected to community partners
479,034 equivalent meals provided
249,710 pounds of carbon dioxide mitigated from the environment
136 active food donor partners
91 active community partners
3455 foods rescues (4318 volunteer hours)
1350 volunteer food drivers registered on the Vancouver Food Runners app
Thanks to a true community effort between volunteers, food donors, and community partners, VFR has already surpassed its poundage target for this year. VFR could not have done this without YOU.
The most powerful way to get a sense of how the food recovery program is working is through the words of VFR’s remarkable community partners. The surplus food supports their critical program work, whether the organization's focus is poverty reduction, addressing violence against women, employment training, food literacy, housing, or other social issues. Through gathering and sharing food, organizations deepen the connections and trust they have with the individuals they work with; and the surplus food often allows their staff to focus more of their time, energy, and resources on their core program mission.
Atira Women’s Resource Society
"All the managers of our housing programs repeatedly ask me to extend my thanks to all the volunteers making these deliveries. I’ve had a couple women tell me they’ve been making baba ghanoush, stir fry, banana bread, and apple crumble for the women on their floors. These stories are a collective unison of women supporting women through cooking, and none of this could occur without the support of organizations like Vancouver Food Runners. Community support has been such an important part of making sure Atira staff are able to serve the women and children who access our services, especially during times like this." (44,032 pounds of food provided in 2021)
Kilala Lelum (Urban Indigenous Health and Healing Cooperative)
Leah Walker: “It’s so beautiful that we have Vancouver Food Runners’ support. Because of this, we’ve been able to expand into some evening food service, whereas our initial funding was only for daytime food service. So far, we’ve been able to do this through some creativity and partnerships." (29,855 pounds of food provided in 2021)
Lorraine Holubowich: “Your support to research available food has complimented the effort of our Coordinator who has limited time to find these resources. With the addition of quality produce, bread, and frozen meals, the food costs of our clients have been reduced by up to 15-20%. Our clients have reduced stress and have improved their resilience and quality of life." (34,041 pounds of food provided in 2021)
South Vancouver Neighbourhood House
Joey Liu: "VFR has been so vital to our program! We basically rely on VFR to transport most of our food coming in and out of the Food Hub. Your amazing group of volunteers supports over 600 people getting fresh, healthy food every week. Doesn’t that blow your mind? Seriously though, without VFR’s delivery service, we wouldn’t be able to operate multiple locations or reach so many people." (55,360 pounds of food provided/transported in 2021)
YWCA (Crabtree Corner & Cause We Care)
May Kwan: "The food that we get donated to our organization has been such a great addition to our food program. Our relationship with Vancouver Food Runners allows for items to be received that we would not typically order because of cost or ability to pick up when available. In addition, it is an amazing treat and opportunity when we get food from high-end food producers that we share with the community we serve. We love that there is a volunteer program attached that helps with the delivery process." (36,182 pounds of food provided in 2021)
Let’s talk about next year. 2022. VFR has BIG PLANS. Our goal is to redirect 750,000 pounds of surplus food to our community partners – that’s 625,000 equivalent meals! – and one of our strategies for reaching this goal is to increase the number of food businesses we partner with. The aim is to normalize food recovery in Vancouver and ensure food businesses have a free, simple, and convenient way to redirect their surplus food to community partners. Importantly, VFR gives food businesses that have not historically had a mechanism for food recovery an opportunity to participate in this important work. VFR’s agile team of Food Rescue Heroes (you!) can collect smaller donations from restaurants, bakeries, and hotels and deliver them to various community partners across the city, which helps to support more equitable and fair food access in our city.
From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for being a part of our program and coming along on this journey with us. We learn from you each and every day.
With gratitude,
The Vancouver Food Runners Team
Vancouver Food Runners operates on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples – Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), səl̓ílwətaʔɬ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations, and we support the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action.
Leona Brown’s BIO.
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