this Regina Food Bank It’s one step closer to opening centers where families facing food insecurity can buy food just like they would at a grocery store.
Located in the city center, Food Center Giving families the opportunity to pick out what they need. However, they will need to register and schedule an appointment before coming.
“What we do is bring many elements of grocery store or traditional food shopping to people in our community who are facing food insecurity,” said John Bailey, CEO of the Regina Food Bank.
Bailey said the new model would help reduce waste because people would only pick up what they needed.
“I think the biggest benefit people are going to get is just being able to say 'yes' and 'no,'” Bailey explained. “People are saying yes to cooking with carrots or oats or whatever, and that's really important because those are things we take for granted when we're not facing insecurities. Being able to pick the foods we want.”
“We’ll let them know how many types of products they can carry,” he continued.
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Food banks have seen an unprecedented increase in demand over the past year, with 204,000 service points being reached by the end of March.
They hope the model can help feed more people.
Matt Lesle of Queen City nonprofit Regina Education and Community Hunger Action believes the community centre will greatly improve the quality of life for residents, especially children.
“Having it downtown will benefit more people, people will have more choices and more control over what they eat and what they can choose, which is a huge benefit for people,” Lessler said.
Bailey is optimistic that the public will be able to access the food hub by late July or early August.
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