Environmental justice is social justice

There are two equal sides of our mission, and we celebrate both on earth day. 

 
As a society, we have to do better when it comes to food waste. We have to stop talking about it and start doing something. We need solutions. We can make programs like Food Stash available everywhere so that everyone can benefit from it. Today’s world is so hard to live in, and we need healthy food to live. It’s time we do what we talk about.
The diseases I have have no cure. If I had my energy back, I could do more. But it’s nice to know that in times of need, I can access food.
— - Lisa, Rescued Food Box program member, activist
 
 

Food is too valuable to waste

Food is so valuable because it nourishes and brings us together. Food is also the miraculous result of a lot of complex ecological and human relationships, so we can't afford to waste it. 

In a country where nearly half our food goes to waste, even as 1 in 4 people struggle to access enough food, the environmental toll of food waste is staggering. The situation with food waste is an alarm bell telling us our food system is broken. 

When voting, we must keep both environmental and social justice in mind if we want a food system that feeds everyone fairly while respecting the earth. While we work together to fix our broken food system, we can continue to chip away at food waste in our communities, households, schools, and workplaces. 

Food is worth rescuing

Our food rescue and redistribution work at Food Stash in 2024 avoided the emissions equivalent of 146 roundtrip flights from Vancouver to Toronto ✈️ or 50 vehicles 🚗 on the road for a year! To make our operations greener, we've installed electric refrigeration units on two of our food rescue vehicles, and connected with chicken farmers to make use of rescued veggies and fruits that aren't suitable for people. 

While rescuing food, we provide thousands of people with dignified food access, and save our nonprofit community partner organizations about $1 million each year! We celebrate this, and the steps we took to get where we are today. 

Sharing food and knowledge

Food Stash works with many other organizations to reduce food waste, tackle Greenhouse Gas Emissions Accounting (more on that here), and build a more just and sustainable food system at the neighbourhood level (read about the Mount Pleasant Food Network here). 

Changing minds and creating action

To fight food waste, we've busted myths and challenged biases about the food that usually goes to waste. (No, 'imperfect' food is not garbage, and yes, we should all be eating it!)

If you want to help rescue over 100,000 meals' worth of good food a month and get it to people who need and appreciate it, we invite you to make a donation today if you are able. 

Thanks to you, we can keep good food from being needlessly wasted and use it to nourish our community.

Happy Earth Day! 🌍