A local non-profit’s efforts at helping food security in Greater Victoria just got a boost now that their new “food rescue kitchen project” is complete.
The Mustard Seed Street Church has been operating in Victoria since 1975 and provides a variety of charitable services, most notably collecting food from local grocery stores and then re-distributing it to over 60 other organizations.
After sorting the food for distribution the organization was left with around 85,000 pounds of perishable food waste every year. That’s where the new kitchen and HeroWork comes in.
“We partnered with the Mustard Seed to construct and build this food processing kitchen as well as bathrooms and offices so they can improve their efforts,” said Paul Latour, the executive director and founder of the HeroWork Society at the unveiling Saturday.
“With a food processing kitchen, they are able to process around 40,000 pounds of food into soups, stocks and sauces that go out into these community organizations.”
HeroWork is a charity that renovates other charities. Everything from excavation and drainage work to fire suppression and the installation of the appliances was done by the charity.
The kitchen boasts appliances like commercial conventional ovens and six burner stoves.
To date, HeroWork has completed $2.5 million worth of nonprofit renovations in Greater Victoria.
“This was a really technical build, we had to bring in lots of stakeholders… and it ended up being this beautiful and amazing kitchen,” added Paul.
The Mustard Seed and Food Share Network operate the Food Security Distribution Center in Esquimalt, which benefits over 42,000 people a month.
Paul Latour, the executive director and founder of the HeroWork society, gives a tour of the newly renovated kitchen built for the Mustard Seed.
Julian Kolsut
