My Interview With Quest Food Exchange

I recently contacted Quest Food Exchange, so that I could find out more information on the process of food rescue and the challenges they are currently facing. I spoke with Geneva Bokowski, the Community Relations Coordinator at Quest. Below are a few questions and answers that were spoken about in our conversation:

K: Can you tell me about the process of food rescue? For example, what kind of non-marketable food do you collect, and what is the process with the vendors like?

G: We have a list of suppliers and vendors that donate monthly or bi-weekly. From them we collect items such as produce, canned items,  and food that is near expiry, overstocked, or mislabelled. The vendors receive a tax receipt so it’s actually cheaper for them to donate to us rather than throwing the food away. We do the pick ups ourselves so it is easier and more convenient for them.

K: What is the separation process like?

G: We have volunteers that do the separation, and the food gets opened, checked, and even tasted for quality control. The food that is not usable gets seperated for compost, which we send out to other facilities. Ideally though, we would lke have have our own composting garden at Quest.

K: Can you tell me about the low cost grocery store? Is there a screening process?

G: We have a few locations for the grocery store. One is on East Georgia, and we just opened one in Surrey as well. The shoppers need a referral in order to shop at the store, often from The Ministry of Housing, or The Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance. The referral is pretty casual, they need written proof that they are approved and they receive vouchers (which range anywhere between $14-$40) to shop at the store. The food that we sell there is 70% reduced.

K: What does the organizational structure look like at Quest?

G: At East Georgia, we have 5 full-time employees. Altogether (at our 3 locations), we have about 21 full time employees and a broad volunteer base. We get our funding from grants, as we are not government funded.

K: What are some of the current challenges you are facing?

G: Funding is always an issue. We usually have a kitchen where we prepare meals from the food we collect, but right now we cannot operate it because of the lack of funding.

K: What do you hope to see for Quest in the future?

G: We have a 5 year expansion plan, where we want to expand to the Tri-Cities. We also want to have a warehouse in Surrey in order to serve them better. Finally, we have a provincial vision for Quest, so hopefully in the future we can expand further throughout BC.

I really want to thank Geneva for taking her time to answer my questions. After our interview, she forwarded the information of our initiative to Charlene Ponto, the Project Coordinator for SFU’s Local Food Project. Charlene then forwarded the message to various other contacts, including Bonnie Edelstein, SFU’s Food Bank Coordinator, Liesl Jurock, the Student Life Manager, and Loretta Laurin, a member of the SFSS Advocacy Committee. Because of Geneva, our idea may just come into action!