Pay what you can

Over 10% of households in Toronto, Canada don’t have access to nutritious and affordable food. Initiatives like the pay-what-you-can grocery that recently opened there, are an innovative way to improve that situation. Everything in this market was donated by food terminals, farms, restaurants, cafés, supermarkets and bakeries. None of it is expired or rotten, but the companies are giving it away because, either they have too much to store, or the produce is bruised or misshapen. So they give it to Feed It Forward, which in turn allows customers to come in, shop, and pay whatever they can… or nothing if they cannot pay. Customers are limited to one day's worth of food for a family so that the shop can support as many people as possible.
A recent report found that for each citizen of Canada almost 400 kilograms of food is thrown away annually. Jagger Gordon, the founder of Feed It Forward says that the concept behind the store is to help people stock their cupboards at prices they can afford, while also raising awareness about food waste. Gordon also opened a pay-what-you-can Soup Bar in 2017. He is passionate about finding ways to cut down on food waste, a problem he first noticed in his catering business. He's also working on a project to address hunger among Toronto's students. He's hoping to collect more rejected foods, and by working with volunteer staff, create a selective menu to be offered to students in need.