How Harvest Manitoba is diverting food from landfill to feed more people

Harvest Manitoba is working to divert food destined for landfills as a way to keep up with the unprecedented demand food banks are seeing around the country.

Vince Barletta, CEO of Harvest Manitoba, said every month the organization distributes one million pounds of food. He said about half to two-thirds of that food comes from recovery channels, including retail, producers and food processors.

“We know we’re only scratching the surface when it comes to food waste in this country”, he said.

“Millions of tons of food are wasted every year all across the food chain and from our own households and our own refrigerators, that we could do a much better job of repurposing and making sure it gets to those one in five families who are facing food insecurity.”

Last year, Harvest Manitoba rescued over $32 million worth of food.

Barletta said the organization was able to accomplish this through the generosity of Manitobans, including the help of the grocery sector, wholesalers, and food manufacturers.

“As I always like to say, it takes a province to feed a province, and no one does that better than we do right here in Manitoba,” he said.

Barletta added that if Manitoba had the proper infrastructure in place, it would be better positioned to accept larger donations of food diverted from landfills.

Watch the video above to find out more Harvest Manitoba’s efforts.

- With files from CTV’s Maralee Caruso.