The creator of a new food sharing group in St. Albert knows what it's like to worry about not having enough food.
Elizabeth Russell-Gregory and her family were recently facing that very situation themselves, and it was the generosity of others that got them through that rough time.“My family and I were facing food insecurity for a while there and I had a couple friends reach out and bring me stuff that they weren't going to use,” Russell-Gregory said.
One of Russell-Gregory's friends had a garden with her dad, and they would give the extra vegetables to Russell-Gregory because they had more than they could eat.
“That got me thinking: I'm sure there's lots of people out there that have stuff that they're not going to use that will be wasted unless somebody else takes it. And it just feels so wrong for so much (food) to be wasted when there's so many people going hungry, even in St. Albert.”
So Russell-Gregory started a Facebook group, Helping Hands for Hungry Friends, to help encourage food sharing in the community. The group allows for anyone with extra food to post on the Facebook page, and anyone in the community can take the posted food.
Once the 25-year-old started the page, her two friends Jennifer Belcourt and Ashley Hart jumped on the opportunity to help their friend moderate the page and support the cause.
On top of being motivated by her own experiences, the founder is also driven by her desire to help marginalized groups.
“The people who are going hungry are some of the most vulnerable in society as it is,” Russell-Gregory said.
According to Food Banks Canada, 34.1 per cent of food bank users across the country are children, while children only represent 19.4 per cent of the overall population. Some 48.1 per cent of food bank users are single adult households, while only representing 28.2 per cent of the population. Single parent households, while only 10.1 per cent of the population, make up 18.3 per cent of food bank users.
Another 57.4 per cent of food bank users are on social assistance or disability-related supports as their main source of income.
Seniors make up 6.8 per cent of food bank users and are the fastest growing cohort relying on food banks.
“To see so much going to waste when it really could be used, it just feels wrong,” Russell-Gregory said.
Here in St. Albert, the food bank averages between 280 and 325 families every month, and the food bank has more than 1,000 families altogether accessing its services. Russell-Gregory doesn't want to take away from what that organization does – instead, her efforts are filling a gap among people who may not need a full hamper of food, but rather just a few items to get them through the week.
Russell-Gregory said the Facebook page also accepts homemade goods and meals along with already opened products, as long as the poster has someone to vouch for them.
For the threesome, reducing food waste and building a sense of community is a big part of their passion for their project.
Belcourt said often people have extra food and put it in their compost rather than give it to someone in need.
“This is really about reducing our waste, supporting our community, giving them great food and sharing,” Belcourt said.
According to a 2017 study by the National Zero Waste Council, some 63 per cent of the food Canadians throw away could have been eaten. For the average Canadian household, that amounts to 140 kilograms of wasted food per year, roughly, at a cost of more than $1,100 annually. Across Canada, that amounts to almost 2.2 million tonnes of food wasted each year.
Vegetables make up the most food waste at 30 per cent, some 15 per cent of fruit is wasted, and leftovers make up 13 per cent of food waste.
Helping Hands for Hungry Friends isn’t just for those who are facing food insecurity, though. The trio also want to help foster a sense of community.
“It's not always when you're down and out. I'm a busy mom. I own a business. Sometimes that home-cooked meal is so awesome,” Belcourt said.
The trio also hopes the page will reduce some of the stigma around needing an extra meal, and they don’t ask you to disclose why you want the food.
Anyone who wants to take a food item can just comment on the page or contact one of the administrators of the page who can help connect them with food. The food posted is for anyone to enjoy, but the trio ask everyone to be mindful that if multiple people are vying for the same food, to keep in mind there may be a person who is facing food insecurity and has a greater need.
“It's not about doing a no-frills free shopping. It's still about those who are really needing it,” Belcourt said.
