In a city as rich as Vancouver, no one should go hungry. While so many of us struggle to put food on the table, grocery giants like Loblaws and Pattison group are making record profits. Instead of feeding our community, these grocery stores throw away perfectly good food into our ever-growing landfill, increasing greenhouse gas emissions and pollution as our planet continues to warm.

Avoidable food waste makes up 20% of the food produced in Canada. At the same time, 1/4 of Canadians, including 2.4 million children, are not getting access to the food they need.. Grocery giants are making record profits, and our grocery bills are skyrocketing.

We need a food system that prioritizes people getting fed, not the profits of billionaires.

It has been clear for decades that we must tackle climate change – and we can do it in ways that reduce our food-waste and make life more affordable, like massively scaling up food recovery infrastructure.

We can increase access to healthy and affordable food for everyone across the city. Urban farms and gardens like Sole Food Street Farms and V6A Garden are leading the way for how we can feed our communities and grow the local food economy.

Vancouver needs a mayor and city council that will fight to end hunger and food insecurity, and make healthy and affordable groceries available to all. 

That is why COPE is fighting to: 

• Support and expand affordable community grocery stores, and fight for affordable groceries. Local community grocers are a lifeline to communities, and they’re under threat of rent increases and demovictions. Vancouver can fight for local grocers, use its buying power to negotiate contracts with suppliers that cut out the middlemen, and bring affordable groceries to your neighbourhood.
  
  

• Stop grocery stores from throwing good food in the dumpster. In Paris, it’s illegal to throw out perfectly good food before it expires. We can require that grocery stores redirect edible surplus food into community programming like community kitchens and distribution hubs instead of wasted.
  
  

• Create a full breakfast and meal program for all students at VSB schools. No child should go hungry. A universal school meal program for all students  will make sure that all students can excel in school, and create a more caring city.
  
  

• Grow food sovereignty, security, and the local food economy. From soil to shelf, we can increase access to healthy and affordable food for everyone. This means creating a pilot for affordable public grocery stores in the city and funding urban agriculture, local farms, and Indigenous food sovereignty programs. 
  
  

Sign our petition today to share your support for COPE’s fight for affordable groceries in Vancouver!