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Rescue Bites

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Founder: Lucas England

The Rescue Bites app provides users with a breakthrough service to give, receive, exchange, or share unwanted or expiring food within their local community.

The Rescue Bites app provides users with a breakthrough service to give, receive, exchange, or share unwanted or expiring food within their neighbourhood and local community, reducing their waste and carbon footprints. According to the UN Food Index, Canadians waste 50 million tonnes of food per year despite 60% being avoidable through better planning and awareness. Redirecting or rescuing surplus food could save 3.82 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses per 1 tonne of food.

Currently, individual households are the greatest contributors, creating 47% of all waste, equal to 79 kgs (174 lbs) or $1,300-1,700 per annum. This $49 billion problem contributes 9.8 million tonnes of CO2, equivalent to pollution from 2.1 million cars. The top 5 reasons surplus food is not donated are legal liability, lack of financial benefit, policies that prevent donation, ineffective communication and coordination between Food Rescue organizations, and perceived complexities of donation vs disposal.

What can we do to reverse these trends?

Introducing Rescue Bites, the online application that removes many of the stigmas from food donation. By getting the same food you would normally buy for free from a neighbour, people can pay less and save more while still consuming the same amount and variety they do anyway, with the only sacrifice being waste.