A new multi-level partnership in Alberta aimed to secure a consistent, reliable steam of fresh food to share with all Alberta food bank clients.
Food Bank FRESH is a pilot project of Food Banks Canada in partnership with the Calgary Food Bank, Edmonton’s Food Bank and Food Banks Alberta. This project is aimed at establishing strong partnerships with Alberta’s producers, and increasing the amount of fresh, high, quality food available within the provincial food bank network. All of our project partners are excited about this new, collaborative approach to fresh food acquisition in Alberta.
While some food banks in Alberta have connections with their local agricultural producers, it can be difficult to accommodate and move fresh food easily across the province. This project will work to eliminate barriers and increase a food bank’s capabilities to capitalize on the generosity of food producers, as well as to collaborate with producers to identify new areas to procure wholesome, fresh, and nutritious food.
The food procurement team in Alberta is being led by Jaimee Larson who is the Regional Procurement Manager, Western Canada for Food Banks Canada. Jaimee is based in Alberta and was hired with input from all of the partners to develop and manage the Food Bank FRESH pilot project.
Jaimee is working to learn more about existing network partnerships and local relationships to determine where they might align with Food Bank FRESH project objectives. Since the inception of the project in June 2019, she has begun the process to create new partnerships and expand her knowledge on agribusiness to seek innovative ways to support food banks with an increased amount of fresh, nutritionally dense, high quality food.