Second Harvest says it is opening a Toronto-area processing facility to supply prepared fruits and vegetables to schools, alongside other food-rescue initiatives across Canada.
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Second Harvest, one of Canada’s largest food-rescue organizations, says it is investing in processing capacity to reduce food waste and meet growing demand, estimating that Canada wastes about 46.5% of its food.
The organization announced the opening of a new processing facility in the Etobicoke area of Toronto that will work with local farmers to provide prepared fruits and vegetables to 28,000 students. The plant is expected to begin operating later this month as a social enterprise, with revenue from the sale of its products being reinvested into Second Harvest’s programming.
Second Harvest CEO Lori Nikkel said the move aligns with federal priorities laid out in the newly announced National Food Security Strategy, telling Future of Good that “The federal government’s newly announced National Food Security Strategy identifies increased domestic food-processing capacity, innovation and stronger food-system resilience as priorities for building a more self-sufficient Canadian food system.” She added that “At the same time, Canada’s National School Food Program is expanding access to nutritious food for children across the country.”
Students are central to the initiative through a partnership with the Toronto Foundation for Student Success, which will deliver packaged vegetables to schools and is intended to save school staff time that would otherwise be spent preparing food. Catherine Parsonage, CEO of the Toronto Foundation for Student Success, said, “The reality is that some programs don’t have enough volunteers or facilities to prepare foods like celery and carrot sticks. This will make those foods much more accessible.”
Parsonage said this school year, more than 440 schools in Toronto will receive the additional food through the partnership, adding, “As food prices continue to rise, many families in our city are food insecure. What this means is more kids are walking through the school doors hungry, and it’s vital that nutritious food is available for them.”
Across Canada, the push to redirect surplus food is taking other forms. In British Columbia, the Greater Vancouver Food Bank has begun repurposing excess fruits and vegetables for resale through vending machines as part of its social enterprise model.
In Manitoba, Maple Leaf Foods invested $100,000 in September in Harvest Manitoba’s Food Transformation Centre, which is described as a way to increase the organization’s ability to recover and process surplus food for distribution through Harvest Manitoba’s network of more than 400 food banks and community organizations. The centre is also intended to provide a permanent home for Harvest Manitoba’s Warehouse Training Program, and the organization is looking for a site, with the facility described as targeting an opening in 2028 if it secures enough funding.
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