About Us

Our vision is to increase community access to delicious, healthy food in the Cowichan Region on Vancouver Island, Canada.

In 2018, Cowichan Green Community established the reFRESH Cowichan Food Recovery Program.

Every week, we collect thousands of pounds of excess fresh fruit and vegetables, dairy, meat and bakery products from local grocery stores. In addition, local farms donate freshly harvested vegetables regularly. The program distributes the donated produce to regional partners including food banks, daycares, soup kitchens, shelters, community programs, and schools.

By June 2021, reFRESH Cowichan had recovered and distributed over 450,000 pounds of fresh produce throughout the Cowichan Region.

A small portion of the donated produce

from select stores is made available for purchase at reFRESH Cowichan Marketplace at a significantly reduced cost.

About 10% of the recovered food is directed into the reFRESH Cowichan Kitchen where we prepare hot meals for the community as well as frozen meals for reFRESH Cowichan Marketplace as part of the Comfort Food Series.

This process helps to prevent food waste and ensures surplus food goes to people first, before being used as feed for livestock or compost.

reFRESH Staff

Nathan Harben

reFRESH Cowichan Food Recovery Supervisor

Linda Martin

reFRESH Cowichan Store Manager

We are a proud member of Island Good.

Island Good is a place brand to help shoppers easily identify local products on Vancouver Island and the  Gulf Islands. Look for the Island Good logo on products in our store and across Vancouver Island.

For more information visit: Island Good

Our mission is to cultivate food, community and resilience.

Cowinchan Green Community Society LogoCowichan Green Community Society, (CGC) is a non-profit organization that has been focusing on environmental sustainability in the Cowichan Region since 2004. CGC’s mandate is to improve food security by developing strong relationships with local food producers, increasing capacity for local food production (both urban and rural), and empowering people with the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to feed their community.