For the last nine months, Sharlene Cosgrave feels like she won the lottery three times. Her winnings aren’t a fortune, though.
Rather, Cosgrave, of Vancouver, B.C., has become a member of the “rescued food” market , a weekly market run by the non-profit Food Stash Foundation, which offers quality surplus food from grocery stores, farms, and wholesalers. This finally allows her to access an abundance of cheap, healthy food for a very low price.
Membership is gained through a randomized lottery system for people who have registered. If selected, members can access the weekly market for three months for a total of $24, which amounts to about $2 per market visit. There, members can shop from a variety of meats and meat alternatives, dry goods, dairy, bread, produce and snacks.
“In the past when I went to food banks, 15, 20 years ago, you just took whatever they gave you,” Cosgrave tells Yahoo Canada. “(At the market) you have the autonomy of picking up how much you need. I sometimes get three or four different kinds of meat or meat alternatives.”
The items are available for a variety of reasons. Some have imperfections. Others are overstock items or approaching best-before dates. But they are always edible and healthy.
Food Stash Foundation’s “rescued food” market is one example of alternative grocery services, including co-ops and not-for-profit retailers, propping up across Canada. They’re helping people across the country find some relief from inflation and rising food prices, which experts say could jump 5 per cent in 2025.
A basket of fruits and veggies at the “rescued food” market in Vancouver, run by the Food Stash Foundation.
Customers willingly pay more to help others: ‘Pay it forward’
Montreal’s 3 Paniers grocery store in the city’s east-end functions under a pay-what-you-can model.
When customers arrive at the register with their items, they are presented with three tiers of price points. The “solidarity price” is the lowest price you can pay; the “suggested price” includes a standard profit margin; and the “pay it forward price” subsidizes the solidarity price with a 40- to 45-per-cent markup.
Beccah Frasier is the executive co-director of Carrefour solidaire community food centre, the organization that runs the grocery store.
“Community members have been asking for access to affordable, fresh groceries in their neighbourhood for years,” she says, noting the store opened in January 2022.
The storefront of Carrefour Solidaire’s 3 Paniers grocery store. Photo by Valérie Guerriat
Unlike the “rescued food” market in Vancouver, Montreal’s 3 Paniers doesn’t rely on donated foods. Instead they partner with local producers. Frasier says the store is largely inspired by grocery co-op models, but shoppers don’t have to become members to benefit from low prices.
“The three-tiered pricing model is designed so that everyone is welcome,” she says. “Everyone has a role to play depending on their situation.”
The store sustains itself, Fraser says, adding that more than half of all customers opt for the middle, “suggested price” tier. Many customers will shift between tiers, depending on their financial situation.
For 2024 so far, 60 per cent of customers paid the “suggested price” on items, while 27 per cent opted for the “solidarity price” and 13 per cent for the “pay it forward price.”
“Then … we’ll get an article in the newspaper and people will come to support that higher price,” Frasier says. “It really fluctuates.”
A look inside Carrefour Solidaire’s 3 Paniers grocery store. Photo by Valérie Guerriat
‘If I’m going through a rough patch, it really helps’
In Toronto, Feed it Forward’s pay-what-you-can grocery store, bakery and coffee shop allows customers to pay what they’re able to afford, or take what they need for free. It offers food and hot meals that come as donations from bigger grocery stores and local restaurants. It is run entirely by volunteers who are offered credit to use at the store.
Zack B., who didn’t want to use his full name, first learned about the store while exploring his neighbourhood. Soon after, his mom started shopping there regularly and he was eventually offered a volunteer position. He says being able to access the store credit has helped him in hard times.
“If I’m going through a rough patch, it really helps. When you’re shopping at a place like this, when you’re already being given a break at the till, it really makes a difference,” he says.
All items in the store between 50 and 75 per cent cheaper than a traditional grocery store, but as Zack puts it, it’s a “roll of the dice” for what you can get because their offerings are always changing. A 40-pack of hamburgers, for example, is about $20. A family-size bag of chips is $1. They’ll also carry some pet food.
“What you’re able to get here blows grocery stores away,” Zack says.
For Cosgrave in Vancouver, she sometimes leaves the “rescued food” market with so much food that she is able to share with neighbours.
“It’s so nice,” she says. “That independence allows me to give to others who may not have the same survival skills or resources around getting healthy food.”
What you’re able to get here blows grocery stores away.