The Quality Foods store in Nanoose Bay donates food to provide 3500 meals a month, and $20,000 in gift cards, to local charities working with Loaves & Fishes food bank and Nanoose Community Services to do this.
Manager Jacob Steele said the store is “small but mighty” and as the “only store in the community, we do our best to meet all the needs of locals. All food waste is donated. It is sorted, the good food for people is distributed out and anything unsuitable goes to farmers, industrial composters, or, as a last resort, the landfill.”
“If it’s human ready, it’ll go to the food banks and if it’s not, like damaged goods and expired goods, it will go to a farm to be composted or fed to the animals,” said Pat Evans, Receiver for the store, which donates 10 to 12 bins every five days to Loaves & Fishes.
Quality Foods also donates “anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 per month in … gift cards depending on the need in the community,” said Evans. Donations are given to Nanoose Community Services to distribute to people in the most need.
Rob Skuse, the Produce Manager at Quality Foods, said they also give to the Salvation Army Food Bank in Parksville. “The way I look at it is if it’s something I’m willing to eat off of my counter at home, I donate it to be repurposed.” There is also a donation bin at the front of the store for customers to donate non-perishable items.
Since 2022, redistribution of food has kept the equivalent of 237,100 kg of CO2 from entering the environment. FoodMesh calculates this “by diverting food to its highest end-use (charity, animal feed, compost) and the emissions that would have been generated if the food had gone to landfill.”
Quality Foods Nanoose has also helped with local events, most notably the Teddy Bear Picnic, a beloved free event every summer until COVID shut it down.
Quality Foods in Nanoose Bay opened in 1992 and employs 32 staff. If you are a charity who would like to approach the store for donations, contact Jacob Steele at the store. If you want to donate, drop off your non-perishable items at the store or if you have a rewards card, you can donate your points.
