The Squamish Food Hub (Market/Community Kitchen) at Under One Roof

The Squamish Food Hub Vision Statement
People, planet, and food are valued, all are fed, and the Sea to Sky Community is engaged within a circular food value system.
The Squamish Food Hub Mission Statement
We operate a collaborative, low waste food hub in an inclusive, socially just, and caring environment. Activities are intended for the bounty and good of all. The food hub is a place where people, food and partners are valued:
• Food is recovered, repurposed, and shared;
• People are engaged and encouraged to build personal capacity and independence; and
• Partnerships are based on trust, open communication, and reciprocity.

The Squamish Food Bank has evolved a lot over the last 26 years. Established in 1996 the Squamish Food Bank historically ran two food distribution days a month, serving approximately 60 individuals and families. Nowadays, the Squamish Food Bank is a fundamental part of the Squamish Food Hub located in the Under One Roof building in downtown Squamish. The Squamish Food Bank partnered with Squamish Helping Hands and since 2020 has been operating a collaborative, low-waste food hub in an inclusive, socially just, and caring environment. The Squamish Food Hub encompasses a community kitchen, food hamper delivery and Meals on Wheels Program, as well as a new food bank space renamed ‘The Market’. At the Market we offer safe and dignified access to nutritious food, in a grocery store style environment through a ‘pay what you can’ model. The Market is open to all, six days a week for two hours a day. There are no eligibility requirements to access these services. If you need food or would like to contribute to our vision and mission, you are welcome!
Every day, we visit local businesses, grocers, and vendors, who generously donate their excess food that they are no longer able to sell but is distributable and good to eat. This rescued food is brought to us by our incredible food rescue drivers, and moved to the community kitchen, and to the Market – reborn to serve its best and highest purpose. We divert and repurpose close to 40,000lbs of food every month from being sent to landfill.
By doing this work, we strive to achieve three goals:
1) To dignify and redefine charitable food access – we want our Market to be a place where everyone feels welcome to engage.
2) To help disrupt systemic food waste and repurpose and redistribute this food to those who need it most.
3) To build a community, where all are fed, and engaged within a circular food value system.
Currently, we serve approximately 350 individuals every month, and see approximately 900 visits to the Market. We distribute over 150 hampers monthly and serve close to 3,000 community kitchen meals a month. We rescue food daily, averaging 7,200lbs weekly, and constantly growing.