Now, all of the food items Poole receives that are either already expired, or have been damaged to the point of being unuseable, go into a box that is set aside for the farm. Boucha picks up the food on a weekly basis and uses it to feed the animals at Beaver Creek Ranch.

Pigs at Beaver Creek Ranch enjoy a meal of recycled bread, courtesy of The Salvation Army

“We notice, specifically when we have food drives, that we get a lot of expired stuff,” Poole says, noting that the Kenora Salvation Army did a food drive around Thanksgiving last year that brought in nearly six boxes of food that was already expired. “Even though we always ask people not to bring us expired food because we just have to dispose of it, it still comes.”

Recycling the expired food in this way reflects The Salvation Army’s commitment to good stewardship of the environment, while supporting local agro-tourism.

For Boucha and Beaver Creek Ranch, the food donations help to offset their costs, as the farm is not currently a source of income for them.

“We just wanted to create a place where families can come and have an experience,” Boucha says. “Plus, I’m thrilled about the whole recycling part of things.”

In addition to the recycling of food products through Beaver Creek Ranch, the Kenora thrift store, along with the Army’s store in nearby Dryden, Ont., also finds ways to recycle their damaged or unsellable clothing items.

In all cases of donated goods being given away to other organizations, Poole emphasizes that it is done as an absolute last resort, and only if the item is severely damaged, past its expiry date or hasn’t sold for more than six weeks.

“I don’t like adding to the landfill if I can help it,” she says. “Kenora is a small town and the landfill only has so much space, so if we can divert even one van load a week we’ve done well.”