Get Food

Yes, Second Harvest does offer delivery services as part of our food rescue and redistribution efforts. Currently, we only offer a direct delivery service in Toronto, but we do also coordinate large-scale food deliveries across Canada on an ad hoc basis.

In the Greater Toronto Area, we have a fleet of trucks and vans that operate seven days a week, delivering food to more than 400 non-profits. The food we deliver is primarily perishable items such as fruits, vegetables, meat, cheese, juice, milk and more, which are rescued because they are close to their best before dates, overstocked, mislabelled, discounted or have damaged packaging.

Rescued food is just like any other food. In Canada, we waste 11.2 million metric tonnes of good, edible food every year. This food is perfectly good to eat, but because we lack a cohesive rescue system, it ends up in landfills instead of on our plates. Second Harvest takes Food Safety seriously and we ask that food donors and recipient organizations comply with Second Harvest's donation and recovery guidelines. All facilities must be up to date with local public health requirements and safe food handlers training. We also offer useful information that helps everyone make the most effective food rescues possible. Second Harvest has many resources to help you donate, rescue and store surplus food.

We take food safety seriously and ask that food donors and recipient organizations comply with their provincial or territorial food safety requirements. All facilities need to be up to date with health inspections and food safe handling training for anyone who prepares food.  Our training and education programs provide tools, training, and safe food handler certification to our non-profit partners, ensuring they meet and exceed food safety standards.  

With our food rescue app, it's easy! We're a non-profit organization just trying to make the world a better place. You can join us, but you never have to claim a donation if you don't want to. You can always turn your notifications on or off to suit your needs.

We're an environmental organization, so we've set minimums for sending a Second Harvest truck. Organizations in Toronto wishing to take part in our direct delivery program must commit to taking 200 pounds of food per week. Our food rescue programs are always free for our valued network partners.

Donations come in all shapes and sizes, depending on the business. A farmer may have thousands of pounds of carrots to donate at the end of a season, while a cafe may have a few sandwiches to donate each workday.

Our food rescue model puts the choice in your hands so that you can see donations in your area and select the ones that are right for you.

To make the system as simple as possible, non-profits must claim and pick up the entire donation that is posted by the business. If you can't pick up the full donation, you can leave it for another organization that can. If you've claimed a donation but later learned that you can't use the food, make the pick-up and then share the food with your network. Committing to donations that you've claimed ensures businesses keep actively donating.

Any charity or non-profit, including remote or Indigenous communities, from across Canada, can join the app.

We are proud to support everyone from shelters providing meals to its residents to Indigenous communities who connect members over a food distribution day to food banks. If you are a non-profit and need food, we hope we can help.

Absolutely. Second Harvest values and prioritizes your existing partnerships. We're here to enhance them when we can, while allowing you to track your impact along the way.

If you'd like to get your donor registered, let them know about the app and ask them to sign up. They can create a special donation just for you.

If you are a company with surplus food from your day-to-day operations or a one-time event, you can use the Second Harvest Food Rescue App to connect with non-profits with food programs.

Start at foodrescue.secondharvest.ca or download our app from the Apple or Google app stores.

We don't accept food donations from individuals or households. If you are an individual that wants to support food rescue, please consider donating funds.