Food Bank receives Co-op Community Spaces grant

the Co-op Community Food Farm will supplement emergency food hampers with fresh tomatoes

For 10 years, Co-op has helped fund 189 community spaces across Western Canada, and this year, it is investing $150,000 in the Red Deer Food Bank.

As one of the 14 recipients of the $1 million invested in communities across the West this year, the Red Deer Food Bank was selected for the proposed development of an indoor food farm at its facility.

“It has become more challenging to source fresh produce, particularly in the winter months. We saw an opportunity to put some of our under-utilized space to better use,” said Mitch Thomson, Executive Director of the Red Deer Food Bank. “The Co-op Community Food Farm that will be located inside the food bank will produce 958,125 cherry tomatoes. This will vastly improve our ability to serve over 70,000 Central Albertans that visit the food bank every year.”

“Over the past 10 years, Federated Co-op has supported 38 other Urban Agriculture spaces,” adds Rodney Perigny, CEO for Central Alberta Co-op. “The submission from the Food Bank checked all our boxes when it came to finding unique and impactful uses for the investment. We have been very fortunate to see many Community Spaces projects come to life in our trading area and are so proud to support projects that improve community health and wellbeing.”

Members of the Board of Directors and management team of Central Alberta Co-op present the Food Bank with their grant award.

The Co-op Community Food Farm will be located inside Bay 12, 7429 – 49 Avenue. The project is targeted for completion by Thanksgiving.

“This investment in Food Production Capacity will enable the food bank to provide fresh produce to clients year-round,” said Thomson. “Co-op has invested in our sustainability and is enabling us to get fresh and become less reliant on packaged goods. We will become a more reliable source of nutritious food for Red Deer families in need.”

“We are extremely grateful to Co-op for this grant that will allow us to consistently grow products we can add to our hampers. It’s going to make a significant difference to many people in our community.”

The announcement of funding was made on June 11 and the official cheque presentation took place on June 12 at the Red Deer Food Bank.