TORONTO – Canadian food banks and associations representing the charitable organizations say they wouldn’t accept recalled beef to feed to homeless or less fortunate patrons.
As plans were made for the meat to be crushed and sealed in a landfill near the XL Foods’ processing plant, Alberta’s Wildrose Opposition Leader Danielle Smith tweeted to her followers that the recalled meat could be cooked thoroughly to destroy any bacteria and then fed to the homeless.
By Monday, she said the tweet was a mistake and apologized.
While Smith retracted her remarks, it sparked debate across the country about what to do with the recalled meat and if sending it to a landfill was a waste of resources.
But spokespeople at several large Canadian food banks – Food Banks Canada and the Salvation Army – each say the food banks follow recalls, and so any XL Beef sent to their facilities would be sent back and wouldn’t be offered to their patrons.
“While we understand not wanting to waste food, there needs to be a quality issue and a dignity issue,” Food Banks Canada spokesperson Marzena Gersho told Global News.
The organization represents more than 450 food banks across the country that feed nearly 900,000 people a month.
Food banks say recalled meat wouldn’t be fed to patrons
While conversation continued about whether tainted meat should be cooked and fed to those in need instead of thrown out, food banks offered their stance on the contentious issue.
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“Our No. 1 priority is to help Canadians in need and we need to ensure we’re doing that with safe, quality food,” Gersho said.
“We’re not advocating that this should be directed to food banks.”
She said that food banks follow all recall procedures so if tainted meat ended up in their hands, it’d be sent back to XL Foods, just like waves of products that left grocery store shelves.
She notes that following food preparation guidelines can be tricky for Canadian households, and this applies to those in need, too.
“If a regular Canadian household isn’t going to eat it, why should someone living on the street or not as economically fortunate . . . why should it be for them?” she said.
“Everyone deserves quality food,” she said.
She noted that most food banks accept perishable items, but they also take in milk, dairy and protein, which are considered “valued” goods.
Meat is typically frozen so it can be easily transported home.
Capt. Pam Goodyear, a spokesperson for the Salvation Army, told Global News that overall, the national organization doesn’t accept perishable items because in most instances, there aren’t fridges or freezers to keep the products fresh.
Even then, all of the Salvation Army’s food services abide by recall procedures and closely monitor expiry dates so patrons aren’t handed stale or tainted food.
“We really want to promote dignity for all people, whether you’re hungry or homeless or you’re a millionaire. We promote dignity and being treated the same for all people as much as possible,” she said.
The Salvation Army is Canada’s largest non-government provider of social services. It offers shelters, transitional homes and addiction programs in some 400 communities, and in some cases, is the only food bank within a region.
Goodyear noted that because most items are non-perishable, the Salvation Army wouldn’t circulate fresh or frozen meat products.
“There’s no way to ensure it’d be cooked thoroughly,” she said.
Debate amongst Canadians about throwing out recalled meat
Canadians also appear to be divided: Global readers, for starters, stirred up debate after dozens of comments poured in in reaction to a story in which an expert said meat not included in the recall could be pre-cooked and sold in soups, meat sauces or frozen goods.
“Why was the meat not donated to the food banks or soup kitchens all over the place to help feed the homeless?” one Global News reader asked.
“Cook it, for crying out loud. Quit wasting good food. There are thousands of hungry people all over Canada. What a giant waste,” another reader wrote.
“You cannot cook tainted meat, nor give it to the homeless or feed it to zoo animals. That’s why it was recalled . . . the meat is no good,” one person wrote in response to fellow comments, including one that suggested feeding cooked recalled meat to zoo animals.
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