FoodMesh connects businesses with charities that help people struggling with food insecurity to ensure the region’s surplus food isn’t going to waste.
Jessica Regan often reminds people that food is not waste.
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The co-founder of FoodMesh, a Vancouver company that acts as a “matchmaker” between businesses with surplus food and charities that help people struggling with food insecurity, is determined to change the way Metro Vancouver looks at edible surplus food.
“Only four per cent of edible surplus food is rescued, yet one-in-four Canadians faces food insecurity,” she said. “That represents an enormous opportunity.”
FoodMesh’s contract with Metro Vancouver, pegged at $102,500 per year, was recently renewed for another two years. The company is tasked with preventing edible food from entering the region’s landfills, while supporting regional food security.
That breaks down to 19.9 million meals and 920,000 kilograms of animal feed between September 2021 and August 2024.
But despite the high amount of rescued food, FoodMesh has its work cut out for it, said Regan.
Research shows that about 46 per cent of food across Canada is not consumed, while only 4.4 per cent of edible surplus food is rescued.
As part of its contract, FoodMesh is working to understand exactly how much food is wasted in Metro Vancouver. That work will continue in the next two years, in addition to the company’s other responsibilities, including education, advocacy and food recovery network mapping.
Regan said many local businesses continue to view food waste as the “cost of doing business” and a low priority for rescue.
Regan said FoodMesh is constantly working to expand its network of organizations that can use surplus food, including soup kitchens, food banks and other charities. It currently works with 109 donor businesses to provide food to 423 direct recipients. Some of those recipients, such as food banks, distribute excess food to neighbourhood groups that are involved in combating food insecurity, expanding the company’s reach to 973 organizations across the region.
Regan said most of the food is eaten by people, while some lower-quality food goes to farms, where it is used as animal feed. Less than 10 per cent is eventually composted.
Regan said FoodMesh provides support to help businesses and charities understand what can be classified as edible food to meet federal and provincial food safety standards. Good food is often thrown away because of cosmetic reasons, cancelled orders or because it is near the best-before date.
In all, across Metro Vancouver, FoodMesh helps provide almost a million meals each month from food that would otherwise have gone to waste.