This feed it forward initiative is more than just a first. This is putting people first.
Saturday, June 16, local startup Feed it Forward will open the world’s first pay-what-you-can grocery store at 3324 Dundas Street West. This retail shop will include a bakery, café, soup bar, rooftop garden, and a large selection of produce grown at the company’s farm in Whitby.
Here's how the pay-what-you-can grocery store works:
Feed it Forward's founder, executive chef Jagger Gordon, rescues food from anywhere he sees waste. This could be Ontario grocery stores, farmers, growers, bakeries, distributors, restaurants ...
These individuals or establishments may think their food that is no longer fit for sale, but Gordon sees how it could use it to create nourishing dishes.
This food is then sold through an affordable subscription service. while the store represents Feed it Forward’s first standing retail shop.
Shoppers can “pay it forward” by donating money to cover the cost of food for someone who cannot afford to pay.
Shoppers who can’t afford to pay anything will receive food at no cost.
The pay-what-you-can grocery store is only part of Gordon’s mission to eliminate food waste and exercise his social conscience.
Current legislation prohibits restaurants, grocery stores, and food manufacturers from donating healthy and edible food items to not-for-profits and community food programs, if they are nearing their labelled expiration dates. Gordon wants to change that.
The chef intends to visit Parliament Hill to initiate legislative change. He wants nutritious and consumable food to be lawfully given to feed Canadians in need.
Canada throws away approximately $31 billion worth of perfectly edible food every year.
