Harvest Algoma was parked in front of the Metro on Northern Avenue Saturday, where it was collecting canned food and other food donations.
The organization, which is part of the local chapter of the United Way, is trying to meet an increasing demand for food during the holiday season by staging food drives at all three Metro locations during the month of December.
“The level of hunger in Sault Ste. Marie is a lot larger, a lot bigger problem than people realize, and that’s because hunger is hidden,” said Harvest Algoma Director of Operations Mike Delfre. “You don’t see it the way you may see homeless people, so the people like seniors who are on fixed incomes, large families with a lot of kids and maybe unemployment, has really caused the food to become a discretionary item after rent or a mortgage or utilities.”
“We know that there’s a lot of people who either only eat once a day, or what they eat isn’t very nutritious, so the hunger problem in the Sault is a lot worse than a lot of people realize.”
Harvest Algoma is trying to address food security issues locally by collecting food, bringing surplus food into the community and delivering a program where it rescues food from restaurants and grocery stores to prevent food from being thrown away.
Delfre is encouraged by the growth of Harvest Algoma since its food resource centre opened on Second Line East in July 2018.
Since opening the centre, Harvest Algoma has received over 100,000 pounds of food and has rescued over 20,000 pounds of food.
He says the food resource centre - which has its own kitchen, complete with large freezers - now enables Harvest Algoma to grow, process and store more nutritious food for the 27 local agencies and food banks the organization assists.
Harvest Algoma also plans on installing two 200-foot greenhouses at its food resource centre in order to grow food to build upon the 28 raised beds that were constructed on-site.
The food security organization also works with the Food Bank Farm and The People’s Garden at Algoma University in order to grow additional food for those in need.
“The amount of food that we’re able to secure for people is growing, and it’s getting to be very large,” said Delfre. “We’re really, really excited about the prospect of growing our own food once we have our greenhouses.”
Delfre says the community's response to Harvest Algoma's Metro food drives has been "amazing."
Since opening the food resource centre in July 2018, Harvest Algoma has received over 100,000 pounds of food, and it has rescued over 20,000 pounds of food.
“Everybody needs to eat - it’s a basic need that we all have,” Delfre said.
The Harvest Algoma food drive continues at the Metro in Market Mall Sunday.