Brandon’s Food Rescue Grocery Is Helping Manitoba’s Most Needy

Story by: ELLISPark.co I Nov. 24, 2023

Food with a mission – that’s how Food Rescue Grocery Store (FRGS) in Brandon, Man., can be described. Inspired by a similar concept in Europe, the goal of FRGS is simple: rescue perfectly good food marked for the landfill and get it to the people who need it most. “58% of food produced doesn’t make it to the table,” says FRGS operations manager Ross Robertson, who is also the executive director of the Brandon John Howard Society. In just 12 months, FRGS has prevented over 610,984 lbs of food from ending up in the landfill.

In late 2021, Robertson helped launch FRGS with the John Howard Society. His vision was to help save edible food from landfills while building community at the same time. Safe access to good food has been recognized as a contributing factor to reducing barriers that can lead to criminal behaviour. “We saw an opportunity for a proactive approach to preventing crime,” says Robertson. “Criminality is a cycle, and helping with food security may prevent negative decisions from being made.”

Working with Second Harvest, volunteers and staff drive excess food from Winnipeg to Brandon. This food, which can range from fresh eggs and produce to frozen french fries and almond milk, is then sold at the FRGS at about a 75% discount compared to retail prices or donated to community food banks. Local partners, including bakeries and farmers, also supply food.

A Facebook page for FRGS keeps the Brandon community up-to-date with almost daily announcements of food arrivals. In the future, Robertson says FRGS plans to become a co-operative, which means making warehouse freezer space available to smaller food banks that don’t have the space to store a lot of food.

For more information about Food Rescue Grocery Store, go to foodrescuegrocery.com.