A Windsor-based food reclamation program has broken previous records and is now among the top urban initiatives in North America.
The Good Greens Food Reclamation Program gave its 2025 report at a media event Tuesday morning at the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association's (DWBIA) offices.
Program Manager Shane Peters had good news to share as new milestones were reached.
"We put nearly $15,000 into the community, into our local food producers, through our food purchases," said Peters. "We also reclaimed over 5,000 kilograms of locally-grown fruits and veggies right here at the Downtown Windsor Farmers Market."
That translated into over 15,000 nutritious meals for those in Windsor facing food insecurity in 2025 alone. Since the food reclamation program was launched in the fall of 2023, over 31,000 meals have been created.
Good Greens has gotten attention from the International Downtown Association (IDA), which has presented the program with the Pinnacle Award, its highest honour. The award was announced at the IDA's annual conference in Washington, DC, and was given to only four projects.
The program collaborates with vendors at the Downtown Windsor Farmers' Market to collect surplus food. The vendors are paid a discounted rate for any extra food, which is then used to create meals.
Peters said that there is still a lot of work to be done to address food insecurity in Windsor-Essex, one of the most productive agribusiness regions in Canada. Portions of the area, however, are considered a "food desert," where many people may lack access to fresh foods due to the scarcity of nearby grocery stores.
"It's all the more concerning when we look at food waste metrics, and then look at our food insecurity metrics," said Peters. "There's a clear gap between these two phenomena. What we're doing here is helping to close it."
Good Greens has been provided with a $14,000 contribution from the Windsor Essex Community Foundation (WECF) to continue the program in 2026.
