Community packs one million meals

By Alex Karn

A grassroots initiative that began with an ambitious idea has reached a major milestone, as One Million Meals Peterborough surpassed its goal of packing one million meals for people facing food insecurity.

The project, launched roughly a decade ago, brings together volunteers from across the city to assemble nutrient-rich, shelf-stable meals in partnership with Kids Against Hunger Canada, a Peterborough-based humanitarian organization.

One Million Meals Peterborough Founder Glenn Duncan said the idea grew out of a desire to bring people together around a shared purpose.

“I was just trying to think of ways for churches and community to work together,” he said. “I was here when we had the flood in 2004. I was so impressed with the way people worked together in the community to help one another, and I thought this is a perfect kind of thing.”

The initiative centres on large-scale volunteer packing events, typically held in local gymnasiums. Participants work assembly-line style, measuring and combining ingredients including rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables and a vitamin and mineral blend into sealed bags.

Each bag contains six servings of the soy-rice casserole designed by food scientists to provide complete nutrition for malnourished children. The meals have a shelf life of at least three years and require only boiling water to prepare.

Volunteers can produce between 1,500 and 1,600 meals in just over an hour, Duncan said, highlighting both the efficiency of the model and its appeal as a team-building activity.

“You work at it for an hour and 20 minutes or so, you’ll do up to 1,600 meals in that hour. Great team builder,” he said.

The first One Million Meals Peterborough event produced just over 100,000 meals. Since then, the initiative has grown steadily, with annual events drawing participants from churches, schools, sports teams, businesses and neighbourhood groups. After a pause and scaled-back efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, participation rebounded, culminating in this year’s milestone.

A typical event now involves about 400 volunteers split across two shifts, each working at long rows of tables where ingredients are measured, weighed, sealed and packed into boxes for distribution.

While the project began with a global outlook, the meals have supported both international and local communities. Past shipments have gone to Haiti and northern Canadian communities, where food costs are high and access to balanced nutrition can be limited. Some meals have also stayed in Peterborough, supporting local food programs.

This year’s distribution is expected to remain within Canada, though final destinations had not been confirmed at the time of writing.

The initiative also relies on community fundraising to cover ingredient and shipping costs. While raw ingredients once cost about 25 cents per meal, rising expenses have pushed that figure closer to 65 to 70 cents, with total costs reaching about $2 per meal once transportation and logistics are included.

Despite those challenges, Duncan said the project’s impact extends beyond the number of meals produced.

“I want to see community being built,” he said. “I love Peterborough. It has everything that a city needs, but it has a small-town feel to it… I want to see our city being a healthy city.”

One Million Meals Peterborough continues to operate as an annual event, typically held on the first Saturday of April, with adjustments made around holidays. Organizers encourage residents to get involved through volunteer registration online at www.onemillionmealspeterborough.com/register.

For Duncan, the milestone represents not just a numerical goal achieved, but a reflection of what can happen when a community comes together.

“It’s important to me, because I want to see people being glad about the place we have to live,” he said. “Even with the struggles, I want people to start to see what we have, rather than to think about what we don’t have.”