Nearly 250 restaurants across the country are participating in Canada Beef’s third-annual Burger It Forward campaign aimed at relieving the growing food insecurity in Canada.
The national campaign, which runs until February 28, supports local restaurants while also raising funds for food banks regionally and nationally.
Each participating restaurant will feature a select burger for the Burger It Forward campaign. For every campaign-featured burger purchase, Canada Beef will donate the equivalent of one meal to Food Banks Canada, up to a maximum of 20,000 meals (based on Food Banks Canada’s meal metric: $1 = two meals). Additionally, provincial cattle associations and/or partners will give back to their communities by making ground beef or cash donations to regional food banks. Unique to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the campaign has partnered exclusively with Big Stop Restaurants to feature all five of their burgers in 15 locations across these Atlantic provinces.
“The need for food banks has nearly doubled in only five years, and one in four Canadians are living in food insecure households,” said Joyce Parslow, Executive Director of Consumer Marketing at Canada Beef. “When donations drop, Food Banks Canada still continues to help, so Canada Beef is proud to host Burger It Forward again this year to help support this very important effort and organization. By simply dining at a local restaurant and ordering a Burger It Forward burger, Canadians will be helping their communities in a meaningful, tangible way.”
In a news release Canada Beef said Food Banks Canada reports that use is at its highest in Canadian history. There will be over two million visits to food banks this month, with 700,000 visits being from children. As people in Canada rely on food banks more than ever, the food-banking system is reaching its limit. Last year nearly thirty per cent of food banks ran out of food before they were able to meet demands. Burger It Forward takes a simple approach to supporting these food banks, making the campaign accessible to both restaurateurs and consumers who want to help.
Visit burgeritforward.ca for more information, including descriptions of all the Burger It Forward burgers, a map of participating restaurants and more. Canadians are also encouraged to share snaps of their experience enjoying Burger It Forward burgers on Instagram using the hashtag #BurgerItForward and tagging @lovecdnbeef.
As the marketing division of the Canadian Beef Cattle Research, Market Development and Promotion Agency, Canada Beef is the cattle producer-funded and run organization responsible for domestic and international beef and veal market development. It has staff in Canada, Mexico, Japan, China, and Taiwan, and representation in Vietnam and South Korea.
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