Recap: Rural Food Banks Study Webinar

On June 26, 2024, Land to Table hosted a webinar to highlight the significant results and recommendations of the Rural Food Banks Study. This study was conducted in partnership with KPU’s Institute for Sustainable Food Systems (ISFS) and Community Connections (Revelstoke) Society, involving four rural food banks in the Interior: Golden, Invermere, Revelstoke, and Sicamous. The study aimed to address the unique challenges faced in rural food access programs. 

Twenty-one people attended the webinar from across the province, including food bank representatives from Armstrong, Merrit, Pemberton, Agassiz-Harrison, Kimberley, Lake Cowichan, Penticton, Chemainus, and Gabriola. 

Purpose of the Webinar

The purpose of the webinar was to:

  1. Present an Overview of the Study Purpose and Findings
    Land to Table presented the study’s goals, findings, and recommendations to build the context for the webinar and orient attendees to the study. 
  2. Share Experiences
    Representatives from the four rural food banks shared their experiences and perspectives on providing food access in rural areas amidst growing demand and limited procurement options.
  3. Discussion and Exchange
    The webinar created a space for the 21 participants to share their experiences, discuss challenges and innovations in rural food banking, and foster a collective knowledge-building effort.

Rural Food Banks’ Discussion

After an overview of the study, the Invermere, Revelstoke, Golden, and Sicamous food banks were spotlighted for a “fishbowl” style discussion, diving deeper into their experiences working together. They explored questions such as:

  • Why collaborate?
  • How was the funding sourced?
  • What problems were you addressing in your rural communities?
  • What were the significant challenges and shifts during the study?

This fishbowl highlighted the collective learning experience, emphasizing key moments such as realizing the unsustainability of buying food at the current rate (even as a collective) and identifying shared challenges and opportunities for food sourcing and storage. After the fishbowl, attendees were invited into the discussion to further explore the findings from the study, to express shared or new challenges, and to discuss how the food banks have continued to work together and take next steps since the study concluded in February 2024. 

Key discussion points included:

  • Diverse Food Service Needs: One type of food service cannot meet everyone’s needs and operate sustainably. Differentiating between emergency food use and other community food needs is crucial to create financially sustainable and appropriate food programming for the whole community. 
  • Procurement and Distribution Hubs: Establishing centralized hubs for procurement and distribution in rural regions is an opportunity to manage larger food procurements and redistributions to a variety of food programming (e.g. in schools or with seniors).
  • Infrastructure Development: Infrastructure is necessary to support a procurement and distribution hub with appropriate storage space.
  • Sharing Staff Positions: Co-funding a shared procurement coordinator would allow the rural food banks to collaboratively source food at reduced cost in comparison to food banks each employing their own staff to organize regional procurement. 
  • Transportation Networks: Leveraging existing transportation networks with local businesses can support food recovery efforts and foster regional collaborations.
    • The audience was curious to hear more about how Golden and Invermere worked together with Home Hardware to transport recovered food between the two food banks. 
  • Program Model Adaptation: Testing innovative models like cost recovery channels and alternative food distribution methods could create more sustainable programs in food banks.
    • The Columbia Valley Food Bank shared how they are funding additional Nutrition Coupons to give out to their clients. One audience member mentioned how Enderby Food Bank created their own coupon program since they do not have an accredited BC Farmers Market. 
    • The Golden Food Bank just launched their Affordable Market Program. They shared about their program model, how clients are referred, and how the community has responded to their changing offerings. 
  • The Challenge of Sourcing Food Locally: Participants discussed the challenge of deciding between values of supporting local food producers and retailers, and trying to stretch purchasing budgets.
    • Jen Ciccone from the Armstrong Food Bank said they “love shopping locally as much as we can, but we just shop sales, so sometimes it doesn’t work. We can save more than $1 per peanut butter [by going into Vernon], so we save SO much money by heading into Vernon.”
    • Attendees representing food banks in Armstrong and Merritt also expressed shared issues of struggling to source recovered food, especially because the retailers in neighboring urban centres don’t donate their recovered food to outlying communities, despite the residents in these rural towns supporting urban centres with their business.

In addition to the discussion between the food banks, Nick Johnson, Members Services Manager at Food Banks BC and study steering committee member, highlighted the importance of these collaborative efforts. He discussed how Food Banks BC is considering the study results  in their membership model to better support rural food banks in their procurement and collaboration efforts.

While the study and the pilot and program adaptations coming out of the study will not “solve” food insecurity, the four food banks are continuing to work together to adapt their approach to food access programming and to test and trial innovative ways to feed their communities. The hope is that their learnings and knowledge sharing with those undergoing similar adaptations will create a supportive network of organizations to evolve food banking approaches together. 

The food banks invite anyone with questions or who wishes to connect and share their experiences to reach out directly.

Julia Newbury, Golden Food Bank
julia@goldenfoodbank.ca 

Katrina Chapman, Columbia Valley Food Bank
executivedirector@cvfoodbank.ca 

Janet McClean Senft, Eagle Valley Community Support Society
edevcss@telus.net

Community Connections Revelstoke
info@community-connections.ca 


If you have questions about the study approach or methods, please contact Land to Table Director Liz Blakeway at liz@landtotablenetwork.com.