Spill the Beans: Newcomers Guide

Equitable access to food is a growing concern as the cost of living rises. Yet we cannot address food insecurity without tackling the growing rate of food waste. In Canada, 46% of food produced is wasted, and 41% of this could have been redirected to Canadians in need (Second Harvest Canada, 2024). The City of Calgary estimates that households lose $2,000 annually due to unnecessary food waste. Meanwhile in Calgary, 44% of parents are skipping meals to feed their kids, and 28 - 44% of families use food rescue services (Calgary Foundation, 2025). Calgarians cannot afford this amount of waste in the face of a growing hunger problem.

 Our Spill the Beans (STB) program is a free, community-based food waste reduction program designed to break this cycle by teaching Calgarians cost-saving and waste-reduction practices for shopping, cooking, preservation, and food reuse. When a community books a workshop, Green Calgary staff will conduct a needs assessment with local leaders to identify specific barriers and knowledge gaps. A customized session will be delivered, covering practical topics such as food preservation, interpreting food labels, and budget-friendly meal planning.

We are seeking $15,000 to launch a new initiative within the STB program: Spill the Beans: Newcomers Guide. A series of 10 food literacy workshops specifically tailored to immigrant communities and newcomers to Canada. This program will collaborate with immigrant serving agencies, affordable housing providers, and universities to reach newcomers to Canada and immigrant communities. Many newcomers do not receive orientation to Canadian food systems when they first arrive to Canada. In addition, language barriers make this information difficult to attain for these groups. Immigrant communities also make up a significant portion of low-income households of whom are regularly skipping meals to feed their families. Therefore, cost-saving and food maximizing resources can empower these communities to navigate limited budgets while still meeting their nutritional needs.

 Engaging with immigrant serving agencies has revealed a significant demand for food literacy education among their clients. During a trial workshop with The Immigrant Education Society (TIES) we received over 165 participants in person and online. With support from Field Law, this new initiative will equip newcomers with the knowledge and tools to reduce waste, save money, and strengthen food security within their communities.

When Natalia Gonzalez, a city waste diversion specialist and immigrant to Canada, reached out to our staff, she shared that many food education programs she had joined “lacked the necessary depth for newcomers who may be introduced to these topics for the first time.” She wanted to learn practical skills on cooking with seasonal produce and simple preservation methods. Natalia’s experience mirrors that of many immigrant families who struggle to access relevant food education and resources.

Spill the Beans: Newcomers Guide will benefit newcomers and immigrant communities by providing culturally responsive food education that take into account their lived experiences, and meets them where they are at. Workshops cover foundational topics such as understanding “best before” versus “expiry” dates, identifying affordable local produce, and learning preservation techniques like bulk buying, freezing, and pickling. While these skills may seem intuitive to some, they are not inherent for those unfamiliar with Canada’s food systems. These simple, practical lessons can significantly extend food longevity and increase household savings.

STB will also empower low-income families, many of whom are newcomers and from racialized groups. While food banks offer short-term relief, our workshops provide long-term resilience through cost-saving shopping strategies, meal planning, and creative reuse of leftovers. For example, counsellors at the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society noted that some of their clients struggle to use the canned and dried goods provided by food banks. Our sessions address these knowledge gaps by demonstrating simple, accessible ways to prepare and store such foods, ensuring families can make the most of their resources.

Each workshop will conclude with a 'Community Connectors' session, where participants share personal experiences, challenges, exchange food handling tips, and brainstorm community-led solutions. This will help combat the stigma around food insecurity and facilitate peer-to-peer support on each other’s food education journey.

Green Calgary is requesting $15,000 from Field Law to deliver 10 food waste reduction workshops, reaching at least 300 newcomers and immigrant families. With Field Law’s support, more newcomers can receive education that is applicable to their cultural and language background, fight food insecurity from their kitchens, and sowing seeds for more long-term, community-led food resilience programs and initiatives.