Providing a sense of dignity to the people using its services while also minimizing food waste has prompted a big change in how the Barrie Food Bank will serve its clients.
Starting today (March 8), the organization is changing from a pre-bagged hamper program to a self-serve model, where visitors using the service can choose their own produce, meat, dairy, bread, canned and dry goods according to the size of their household.
Barrie Food Bank executive director Sharon Palmer explained that through research, it’s been determined many people won’t come to a food bank because they feel the quality or the quantity of the food is not going to meet the needs of their family — as well as due to the fact they believe there is a stigma attached to using a food bank.
“People will try to do anything they possibly can to not get to that point where they need to use a food bank. That is unfortunate … because it often means kids go without lunches and people skip meals," she said. "There are all kinds of health (issues) faced, both physical and mental, when people are not eating properly, so we want to make sure that everyone feels comfortable coming here, that they have a good experience and they come away feeling like they have the food they need for their family."
Another reason for the switch is to improve efficiency and ensure less food waste, Palmer added.
“We know today when you give out a pre-packaged hamper that some of the items in that hamper will not be things that are necessarily needed at that time in their cupboard, or things they don’t like," she said.
Palmer said an example would be if she herself received a can of mushroom soup.
“There’s never a day I am going to eat a can of mushroom soup. If I had to eat that, it would be really hard to get down. There are just some things that you just cannot or will not eat, no matter how hungry you are," she said.
Those items are therefore going to waste by just sitting in a cupboard not being used.
The Barrie Food Bank helped more than 3,900 individuals in February, Palmer said, adding the Anne Street facility is typically seeing up to 400 new clients every month.
“It’s a big jump we are seeing every month. We have become a real, needed service that they rely on to be able to meet their basic needs,” she said.
The new service model will allow clients to basically “shop” from the shelves themselves and select items they want and need.
“They will still check in like they normally do, and we find out about their family size and what their needs are at that intake process," Palmer said. "They also show us identification for themselves and every member of their family, so that stays consistent.”
Clients will be provided with a card that indicates their family size and how many items they can have from each category.
"The shelves are all marked by category — it’s all colour-coded. They can select whatever they want from the shelf section based on their family size," Palmer said. "We will have volunteers in the warehouse to assist them as they get used to the shopping experience.
"Then there will be a checkout, just like you’d have at a grocery store. As we bag their groceries, we just make sure they’re within the parameters for their family size," she added.
Something else that’s new is the addition of appointment times in an effort to spread people out throughout the day and decrease lineups.
“One of the things we have seen with the huge increase in client numbers is we have lineups," Palmer said. "When it’s cold and miserable, we can only have so many people in the building at a given time, so we are trying to spread things out and hopefully improve the experience overall for the people who use our service.”
The new “self-serve” model is one that is already being used by other food banks.
“Every food bank does things a little differently, but it’s something that has been tried and true," Palmer said. "One of the things we have learned from other food banks is that as our numbers grow, you’re more efficient because you’re not handing out stuff that’s not being used.
"It will actually decrease our costs … and it’s just going to make a lot more sense for clients," she added.
Palmer said the idea of people being able to choose what they want and need is "very empowering."
"It changes the whole dynamic … and there’s just more dignity and respect to the whole experience,” she said. “The actual quantity of food we are handing out won’t change that much. We are still controlling what’s going out, because we have to make sure it’s fair for everybody based on the size and needs of the family.
"The big change is choice.”
The Barrie Food Bank is located at 42 Anne St. S.
