The Canadian government is putting more money into food security in B.C.
During a visit to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank's location in Burnaby (8345 Winston St.) on Wednesday (May 25), the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau revealed a federal investment of up to $2 million from the Local Food Infrastructure Fund that will support 38 projects across the province.
The ministry says the funding is set to support community-based and non-profit organizations in efforts to provide rapid responses to food insecurity issues.
Bibeau toured the 40,000 sq-ft. Burnaby warehouse which includes a kitchen, refrigerator, freezer space and volunteer lounge.
Food bank employees also showed the minister pictures of a new walk-in fridge freezer that was installed at its downtown Vancouver location thanks to a grant of up to $98,687 from a Local Food Infrastructure Fund grant.
The freezer allowed the food bank to increase cold food storage capacity by 3,400 cubic feet and will allow the food bank to provide more vegetables, fruits and meat, as well as other frozen products.
"Since the launch of the Local Food Infrastructure Fund in 2019, 821 community-led projects have been supported by our government," Bibeau said.
"It is clear that organizations working with communities are in a unique position to meet the needs of the most vulnerable. We will continue to equip them to support them in their essential mission of contributing to food security."
The government says, since the Local Food Infrastructure Fund was launched in 2019, $36.5 million has been committed to supporting more than 821 growth-generating food security projects across Canada.
A full list of B.C. projects receiving funding is available online.
