Walmart Foundation Funds Two Toronto Charities in their Efforts to Rescue and Deliver Fresh, Surplus Food to Feed People Experiencing Hunger

• Toronto-based charities, Daily Bread Food Bank and Second Harvest, receive a combined $3,453,576 [$889,926 CAD to Daily Bread/$2,563,650 CAD to Second Harvest] in funding to develop evidence-based food recovery solutions and to divert food waste.

TORONTO, April 19, 2018 /CNW/ - Daily Bread Food Bank and Second Harvest are each launching new initiatives to address food loss and waste (FLW), thanks to a generous grant of $3,453,576 from the Walmart Foundation in support of this important work. This grant is part of the Walmart Foundation's

$15 million USD ($19 million CAD) commitment to prevent food waste and support food banks.

The Walmart Foundation's funding for Daily Bread Food Bank will support their Farm to Food Bank program, which will provide more fresh produce to food bank clients across the region and significantly reduce food waste from local farms. The investment will be used to purchase a tractor trailer and cooler to help increase capacity for distribution, with a goal of collecting and distributing over 1 million pounds of donated produce from 10 to 12 farms in the first year to people in need across Ontario, through Daily Bread Food Bank member agencies and other community partners. The Farm to Food Bank program stands at the heart of one of Daily Bread's strategic goals: to work with local farmers to source sustainable, fresh foods, grown and procured locally, and build a solid, ongoing pipeline to access fresh produce throughout the food banking system.

The funding for Second Harvest will support evidence-based solutions for food recovery. Working with Value Chain Management International, this project will address social and environmental problems by quantifying where and why FLW is occurring along the supply chain across Canada. The results of the research will be used to produce and disseminate a manual of scalable and sustainable environmental solutions and produce greater opportunities for food to be recovered and distributed to people who are food insecure.

With the Walmart Foundation's support Second Harvest is also launching FoodRescue.ca, an online system that provides access for businesses to quickly and easily donate surplus food of any kind, such as perishable dairy, prepared foods, produce, freshly baked products, as well as packaged and canned goods. Acting like the spokes of a wheel, FoodRescue.ca builds connections between food donations and social programs through timely and reactive software that considers organizational needs, such as distance and capacity. There is no cost for businesses or charities to use this online tool. The team behind FoodRescue.ca reviews and approves users to ensure aspects like health and safety measures are in place and provides education around how to conduct successful food rescues. FoodRescue.ca also measures and tracks all food exchanges and provides all registered businesses and organizations with metrics about the:

• greenhouse gas emissions averted
• value of food recovered
• number of meals provided through food recovery efforts.

Quotes

"Working directly with farms to redistribute fresh produce that would otherwise be lost makes radical common sense," said Neil Hetherington, CEO, Daily Bread Food Bank. "Farmers are already telling us that the Farm to Food Bank program is helping them solve a key business challenge while doing environmental and social good ? that's a triple bottom-line win, and we want to thank the Walmart Foundation for helping to make that win possible."

"The leadership and investments from the Walmart Foundation on the critical problem of food loss and waste are invaluable and will play an important role in addressing the very real challenges of climate change and food insecurity," said Lori Nikkel, Director of Programs at Second Harvest. "As Canada's food recovery experts, we're incredibly grateful to partner on these important projects which will have a lasting impact on how surplus food is measured, managed and equitably redistributed."

"We sincerely appreciate this exciting opportunity afforded to us through the generosity, vision and leadership of the Walmart Foundation, and our partnership with Second Harvest," said Martin Gooch, CEO of Value Chain Management International. "Prior FLW studies estimated FLW based on the analysis of existing data. A world first, this project is determining the metrics required to benchmark FLW and monitor progress then gather the data required to populate those metrics and guide the creation of sustainable FLW solutions. Project outcomes will have important implications for businesses, industry organizations, researchers and government."

"The Walmart Foundation is excited to support the work of the Daily Bread Food Bank and Second Harvest to help better understand and fight food waste," said Kathleen McLaughlin, president of the Walmart Foundation and chief sustainability officer for Walmart. "For over ten years, through philanthropic and business initiatives, Walmart has been working to reduce food waste and strengthen charitable programs to accelerate food recovery and get food to those who need it most. Today we commit to accelerating progress in Canada. We hope this grant, combined with additional grants we are making to other leading non-profits, will catalyze collective action to reduce food waste all along the food chain, from farm to fork."

About Daily Bread Food Bank
Daily Bread Food Bank works towards long-term solutions to hunger and runs innovative programs to support people on low incomes. Daily Bread distributes shelf-stable food, as well as fresh-cooked meals and provides support to more than 130 member agencies and 170 food programs across Toronto, including food banks and meal programs for shelters and drop-ins. Daily Bread also publishes the influential Who's Hungry Report, an annual survey that provides qualitative and quantitative data and analysis about food and income insecurity in Toronto to all levels of government and sector stakeholders. To learn more about Daily Bread Food Bank, please visit www.dailybread.ca.

About Second Harvest
Second Harvest is the largest food rescue organization in Canada and a global thought leader on food recovery. With a goal to drastically reduce the amount of food wasted while ensuring people have access to the good, healthy food they need for success, Second Harvest works across the supply chain from farmer to retail to capture surplus food before it ends up in the landfill and negatively impacts our environment. Since 1985 we have rescued and delivered more than 127 million pounds of food and prevented over 70 million pounds of greenhouse gas equivalents from entering our atmosphere. Currently, we rescue food from over 470 donors and deliver that food to 253 social service agencies in Toronto and food hubs across Ontario, providing enough food for 30,000 meals a day.

SOURCE Daily Bread Food Bank