With monthly food bank visits at an all-time high among Canadians, two Calgary entrepreneurs have launched a program to get wasted food to those in need.
Sean Burton, a Calgary chef and CEO of Mise, says his time working in kitchens left him disillusioned about food waste. This led him to launch Mise: Family Meals, a program that connects restaurants with charities and allows surplus food to be distributed.
According to a 2019 report by Statistics Canada, about 11 million tonnes of food (20 per cent of all food produced in Canada annually) eventually becomes waste.
Kenzie Bullock, chief technology officer at Mise, says that he was surprised that so much food is discarded in Canada.
“I’ve built a career in programming, so why not use this [skill] to solve a need,” said Bullock. “With the technology we have available to us, it should be very simple to connect [extra food] with somebody who needs it.”
How does it work?
If a kitchen has excess surplus it cannot use, it can list it on Mise: Family Meals, with pickup instructions. Nearby food banks, shelters and other non-profits can claim the product and collect it.
Non-profits can also request items and coordinate with kitchens to maximize surplus.
All drop-offs are weighed, and Mise publishes the total amount of food rescued on its platform.
Burton was inspired by a kitchen ritual called the “family meal”, where food scraps and leftovers that would otherwise be tossed into the garbage are used to cook a meal for employees.
“[If the food is] going to end up in the garbage, let’s get it into somebody’s hands, especially somebody that needs it,” said Burton.
Canadians struggling with the cost of living
In the annual Food Banks Canada’s HungerCount report, food bank usage has increased by 113 per cent since 2019, with 3.6 million snacks and meals served in just March 2026.
The report also found that low-income households spend an average of almost 60 per cent of their income on housing, an increase of 10 per cent from 2021.
Minimum wages have not kept pace with the cost of living. The Alberta Living Wage Network estimated the living wage in Calgary at $26.50 per hour, defined as “the hourly wage a worker needs to earn to cover their basic expenses and participate in their community.”
Minimum wage in Alberta has been frozen since 2018 at $15 per hour, but during the same period, inflation has increased by 27 per cent. According to the Bank of Canada’s inflation calculator, a basket of goods that cost $15 in 2018 would cost $19 in 2026.
“It’s 2026, and we can tweet somebody across the world in a second, but we can’t get food into somebody’s hands 5 minutes away,” added Burton.
