With so many people using the program, some food quality issues have been raised.
“When I get home and check the fruits and the vegetables, I find there's a few of them are being rotten,” said Desmond Yau, a SAIT student who used to order the GFB program.
He also pointed out that students cannot choose the food they receive like you can at a grocery store.
Mackenzie Drake, the student experience coordinator at SAITSA Resource Centre, says the SAITSA only delivers the boxes and doesn't do food inspections of the GFB program.
“But if we were getting lots of feedback (or) it wasn't working out. We would definitely bring it to their attention and kind of see what's going on,” she said.
“Because obviously SAITSA cares so much about SAIT students.”
Quality is something the company is conscious of, says Lynn Gofflot, community relations coordinator with the Community Kitchen Program of Calgary.
Food for the boxes comes from six wholesalers and produce wholesalers in Calgary.
“We work with them each week to get the best prices and the best produce that we can,” said Gofflot.
Along with the freshness of the food itself, transportation and storage also need to be considered.
“We do transport the boxes to seats in our refrigerated trucks. So, if it sits out too long there on that side, sometimes things can happen,” said Gofflot.
“And then on the other side is making sure that all the different depots can handle the growth as well because a lot of them are volunteers and if they get too many people ordering boxes, they have to put kind of a lid.”
Those who find sub-par food in their boxes should reach out right away, said Gofflot.
“We’ll replace it,” she said.
Considering the demand, Gofflot says plans are in the works to expand the facility.
“We're looking at having another cooler in our warehouse to keep more fruits and vegetables, and we're looking at needing an extra team to go out and deliver and an extra truck,” she said.
