Central Alberta group saves thousands of pounds of food from landfill

Echo Food Rescue. (Adel Ahmed/CTV News Edmonton)

A group in Lacombe, Alta., is saving food from ending up in the trash.

Over the last two years, Echo Food Rescue has saved more than 235,000 pounds of food from going to the landfill.

“You can never have a bad day giving away food,” says Christina Sturgeon, the manager of Echo Food Rescue.

The Lacombe based group focuses on keeping edible food out of landfills and re-distributing it in the community. They collects items like bell peppers, bread and dairy products from farms and grocery stores.

“Especially produce from the farms,” said Sturgeon. "It might just be misshapen. It maybe has one little bad spot on it but our volunteers sort it all. We don’t ever get rid of anything.”

The group expanded its space over the last year to meet up with the high demand of food they give out. Three-thousand pounds of food is given out each week, enough to feed 300 people.

“I haven’t bought potatoes or bread for a year,” one customer told CTV News Edmonton. “It meets some needs that some people are not able to meet on their own. It’s also supporting sustainability with having it not go into the landfill,” another customer said.

In 2022, Echo Food Rescue saved 65,000 pounds of food from going into landfill. Last year it saved 115,000. By the end of this year it expects to save more than 150,000.

“We count on the community members that come and rescue the food as much as the volunteers and the places that are donating the food,” said Sturgeon.

The food is picked up on a first-come, first-serve basis. Updates on when the giveaways are happening are posted to Echo Food Rescue’s website and Facebook page.