Local restaurant owner turns would-be waste into meals for Nanaimo’s homeless
NANAIMO — A challenge has been issued to Nanaimo’s food industry to join in on a creative way of diverting wasted product into the hands and stomachs of those in need.
Dish Downtown owner Darcy McBride had a simple idea — take food from his restaurant that would otherwise be bound for the waste bin, find some of Nanaimo’s most hard-up citizens and give them a meal. A video of his adventure handing out the food garnered a strong reaction on social media. Now, McBride is hoping to transform the idea into something that can impact the community he was born and raised in.
“I have the unfortunate task of sometimes discarding unused or about to spoil food items,” said McBride. “Let’s see if we can’t get this food into the hands and the stomachs of some hungry people.”
McBride, 32, has been operating Dish for two years and is just putting the finishing touches on a relocation downtown. He says one thing he has not enjoyed watching change about his city is the increase in the homeless population.