Last summer, a Loving Spoonful volunteer arrived at the front door of the Kingston Youth Shelter with a car-filled with fresh vegetables. The volunteer popped her hatchback and said, “Take what you’d like.”.
The Youth Shelter took the vegetables she needed for her kids. As our volunteer was getting in her car to go to the next shelter, a teenager from the Youth Shelter came running out of the building. “Thank you for saving our lives!” the young man called.
Loving Spoonful is a Kingston charity dedicated to increasing the fresh, healthy food available to those in need. We work to increase food access, skills and education through our Grow A Row campaign, GROW Project, Community Kitchen program and collaborative policy projects.
Food Reclamation: Daily surplus food pick-up from local restaurants, grocers, and caterers that delivers perishable food directly to 25 shelters and meal programs in Kingston. 47,000 lbs in 2014including the Grow a Row produce.
Grow a Row Seasonal collection of surplus fresh produce from gardeners, farmers, and farmers markets for processing or distribution to agencies; 16,000 lbs collected in 2014.
Preserve Reserves: Volunteers learn preserving techniques and build friendships while preserving the surplus harvest for distribution to shelters and meal programs throughout the winter. Over 3,000 lbs were preserved in 2014.
GROW Project: Elementary school students learn about community and collaboration, local food systems and stewardship, as well as gardening and cooking through classroom and garden workshops.
Community Kitchens: Loving Spoonful’s Community Kitchens welcomes participants of all ages as we learn to cook healthy, easy, affordable meals and share good food together, building skills, resiliency, and friendships.
Policy: We work on food-related policy to change policy from favouring Big Food to favouring community health.
Loving Spoonful is only possible through the commitment of the community. If you would like to support a charity that is effective. local and working to create a healthier community for everyone, regardless of income, housing and physical and mental health, Loving Spoonful is it.