Board & Staff
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
​
Betty Gaertner
Chair
Directors
​
Suellen Boyd
Talia Klein Leighton
Laurel Rothman
Carrie Goldstein Mazoff
​
Founders
Rabbi Arthur Bielfeld
Dodo Heppner
Roger Hyman
MAZON & CLIMATE
Failing Food Systems
Fridges, Freezers, and
Food Rescue
At Mazon Canada, we are committed to doing our part to fight climate change – all while meeting the needs of hungry people and the programs that support them.
PRIORITY ONE:
FOOD WASTE
Even as food bank use reaches all-time highs, more than 11.2 MILLION TONNES (or $49.46 BILLION DOLLARS) of good food rots away in Canadian landfills each year.
If that wasn’t bad enough, ROTTING FOOD CAUSES 6% OF GLOBAL GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS (by comparison, air travel is responsible for only 2-3%!).
How Mazon Helps:
FOOD RESCUE
It's easy to look at the hugeness of our Canadian food waste crisis and despair: "How can I even make a dent?"
​
But, through Mazon, you can help.
As a grassroots community foundation with a presence in 9 provinces and 2 territories, Mazon is determined to do our part in the fight against climate change. Here are two ways Mazon meaningfully does this, by helping build more sustainable food systems through food rescue:
COLLABORATION
CAPACITY BUILDING
MAZON PRIORITIZES PARTNERSHIPS WITH FOOD-RESCUE FOCUSED ORGANIZATIONS that work to lower costs and reduce wastage by diverting healthy soon-to-expire food away from landfills.
​
In 2022, TWO OUT OF THREE Grocery Grant recipients RUN FOOD RESCUE PROGRAMS.
​
1.
MAZON HELPS OUR PARTNERS GROW FOOD RESCUE CAPACITY with grants for purchasing critical infrastructure.
​
​
2 .
In 2022, we focused on upgrading or replacing FRIDGES AND FREEZERS.
Because more cold storage means our partners can accept more rescued food, and feed more people, at lower cost.
​
​
IN 2022, MAZON’S 262 PARTNER PROGRAMS RESCUED MORE THAN 8.86 MILLION DOLLARS OF FOOD.
PRIORITY TWO:
FAILING FOOD SYSTEMS
What's more, most food packaging is made from single use plastics. Though these plastics are technically recyclable, only 9% of recyclable plastic waste is actually repurposed. The rest is burned, or accumulates in landfills and waterways.
In Canada, the average fruit or vegetable travels more than 2,500 km before arriving at our local supermarket. It makes this journey by flatbed truck and cargo plane, sea and rail.
Over the course of any given week, these little journeys add up. If you’re eating a balanced diet, chances are your food is traveling over 30,000 km and emitting 5.911 kg of CO2 each week.
How Mazon Helps:
INVESTING IN
LOCAL FOOD SYSTEMS
By investing in COMMUNITY GARDEN PROJECTS, Mazon helps stand against the climate consequences of a globalized food system by investing in strengthening sustainable LOCAL food systems.
In 2022, Mazon’s community garden partners worked in their communities to REDUCE THE DISTANCE FOOD NEEDED TO TRAVEL FROM FARM TO TABLE, cut down on the carbon emissions involved in transportation, and ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR PLASTIC PACKAGING – all while providing accessible, high-quality produce and BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER.
​
​
IN 2022, MAZON PARTNERED GARDENS HARVESTED MORE
THAN 20,000 LBS OF FOOD!
_pdf%20(1).png){kind=logo}
WE CAN FEED THE HUNGRY AND
BUILD CANADA'S FOOD FUTURE, TOGETHER.
As costs soar and record numbers of Canadians go hungry, Mazon is proud to support a network of grassroots organizations that work in the present to deliver food to those in need WHILE ALSO looking to the future and building the circular, sustainable food systems needed to nourish their communities for years to come.
OR
HELP US BUILD CANADA'S FOOD FUTURE:
_pdf%20(2).png){kind=logo}
