An increasing number of food banks are growing their own food. Mississauga and Surrey Food Banks recently launched a vertical farm using hydroponics and aquaponics. The Regina food bank now even has its own highly sophisticated LED-illuminated greenhouse. It seems more such projects are expected to be launched across the country.

With more food banks befriending the supply chain and growing food, this could be viewed as an act of desperation due to a decreasing number of donations. However, it can in fact benefit many, starting with the food banks themselves. This change speaks to a seismic shift in how food banks perceive their own socioeconomic role.

Donations to food banks have been declining for a variety of reasons. Citizens are hard-pressed to find food to give away. There is plenty of peanut butter and Kraft Dinner on hand, but high-quality foods coming from households are scarce.

Food industrials like grocers and processors have been giving over the years, forging incredibly generous partnerships with several food banks across the country. But such partnerships rely on donations of leftover food that nobody else wants. As for farmers, they are as generous as they can be, since food safety regulations and other types of constraints sometimes get in the way. Some provinces are now offering fiscal incentives to farmers to entice them to donate. But farmers would need to have available products to give away in the first place.

Historically, the focus of a food bank has been to provide food to those in need. People entered in shame and walked away with a box or two to feed themselves and their loved ones for a short while. But food banks across the country are experiencing an economic awakening. They are no longer just about making people food-secure. Their space is really about the wellness of human beings. They are no longer apologizing for existing with the aim of actually disappearing over the long term.

For food banks now, it is about nutrition security and providing hope to the victims of market failures. A food bank is no longer just a place where someone who is down on their luck can find a few empty calories to tide them over for a while. Food banks are now committed to healing, and giving people a chance to succeed. It is a significant paradigm shift from just a few years ago, and greenhouses and gardens are consistent with this new approach.

Food banks have now understood that it can be very beneficial to move from retailing hunger to embracing the full scope of food systems. Gardens and greenhouses can also provide the foundation of a curriculum around food. Cooking classes can be set up which include a sourcing component. More than a third of people visiting food banks are under the age of 18. Many of these young people are ready to learn and become equipped with cooking skills that allow them to prepare their own meals. Food preparation at home always leads to savings and food security.

Gardens are also a perfect vehicle to demystifying food banks to a larger public which has rarely if ever seen the inside of a food bank. Not many potential volunteers are attracted by the prospect of moving boxes around and developing warehousing skills. Gardening, however, can attract a new flock of citizens wanting to make a difference. Food banks are about connecting human beings who are experiencing high levels of vulnerability and uncertainty. Gardens can act as a portal for nurturing souls in dire need of care and nourishment. 

Those who visit food banks have the right to know what good food tastes like — a reasonable expectation for anyone. Nutritionally poor, highly-processed foods cannot change lives. On the other hand, education and good quality foods can. So we shouldn’t be surprised to see more and more food banks aspiring to increase the nutritional bandwidth.  

Sylvain Charlebois is dean of the faculty of management, professor of food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University. This column has been edited for length.