120 Industry Street – Unit C
Toronto, ON M6M 4L8
Executive Director: Paul M. Taylor
Board Chair: Crystal Sinclair

Charitable Reg. #:10739 2359 RR0001

STAR RATING

Ci's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics:

[Charity Rating: 3/5]

✔+

FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY

Audited financial statements for current and previous years available on the charity’s website.

B+

RESULTS REPORTING

Grade based on the charity's public reporting of the work it does and the results it achieves.

Fair

DEMONSTRATED IMPACT

The demonstrated impact per dollar Ci calculates from available program information.

NEED FOR FUNDING

Charity's cash and investments (funding reserves) relative to how much it spends on programs in most recent year.

97%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 97 cents are available for programs.



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OVERVIEW

About FoodShare:

FoodShare is a 3-star charity with Fair demonstrated impact and above average results reporting. It is financially transparent. With its current reserves the charity has five months of annual program costs. 

Founded in 1985, FoodShare is a Toronto-based charity and social enterprise that aims to promote access to fresh produce, encourage healthy eating, and combat food insecurity. It advocates for a world where all people can feed themselves and their communities with healthy food. FoodShare Toronto operates based on principles of food justice, which it describes as a process of dismantling underlying inequities and barriers to food access. For instance, it states that racial identity and income level can determine an individual’s location and housing access, which in turn can influence access to grocery stores and affordable food. The charity reports that Black households in Canada are 1.88 times more likely to be food insecure than white households, and that 28.2% of Indigenous households in Canada are food insecure.    

FoodShare groups its programs into three main areas: Fresh Produce, Growing, and Cooking. Within these areas, it operates both community-wide and school programs. The charity also runs advocacy programs. The charity does not provide a spending breakdown for its programs. FoodShare reports that it reached 181,347 people in F2022. It ran 453 community initiatives and 134 workshops. 

FoodShare’s Fresh Produce programs provide fresh fruits and vegetables to people across Toronto. FoodShare delivers food boxes filled with fresh produce to weekly and monthly subscribers, refers community members to local low-cost food programs, and sends produce to school programs. In F2022, FoodShare distributed 3,120,440 pounds of food. FoodShare also runs the Good Food Markets, which bring fresh produce into neighborhoods where farmers' markets are usually not available. In F2022 the Markets went to 45 neighborhoods, compared to 33 in F2021. 

The charity’s Growing programs aim to help people produce their own healthy food. FoodShare helps to create community gardens, provide local workshops on gardening, and set up composting sites to reduce food waste. Through its School Grown program, it helps schools develop their own farms and rooftop gardens. In F2022, it managed six beehives, producing 2,800 pounds of honey. Overall, FoodShare’s community growing sites produced over 45,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables. In F2022, through the Composting program, FoodShare composted 63,700 pounds of food waste.  

FoodShare’s Cooking programs aim to improve nutrition by teaching healthy cooking skills. FoodShare runs individual cooking workshops, as well as group cooking sessions hosted in a professional kitchen through its Community Kitchens program. It also runs a catering company whose proceeds help fund its charitable programs. 

FoodShare’s Advocacy programs aim to raise awareness about food inequality and injustices in the sector. In F2022, FoodShare wrote an open letter to Restaurants Canada calling on it to stop lobbying for lower wages for restaurant workers. In F2021, FoodShare launched the Right to Food campaign to push the City of Toronto to update the Toronto Food Charter. In April 2022, the motion to update the food charter was approved by the Toronto City Council. 

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Results and Impact

In F2021, FoodShare partnered with University Health Network to deliver the Food Rx project. The program aimed to increase food access for low-income people, affected or at elevated risk of covid-19. People signed up to be part of the program with the help of their doctor. Through this program, people received regular deliveries of fruits and vegetables. FoodShare states that nearly 70% of people reported improvements to their quality of life, a sense of connection to the community, and mental and physical wellbeing.  

While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of FoodShare’s results and impact. 

Charity Intelligence has given FoodShare a Fair impact rating based on demonstrated impact per dollar spent. 

Impact Rating: Fair

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Finances

FoodShare Toronto received $6.3m in donations and special events revenue in F2022. It also received $4.4m in fees for service from the sales of produce and their catering services. Fees for service were 38% of total revenues. Administrative costs are 2% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 1% of donations and special events revenue. This results in total overhead spending of 3%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 97 cents go to the cause. This is outside Ci's reasonable range for overhead spending. 

FoodShare has reserve funds of $4.2m. Reserve funds are the charity’s cash and investments. The charity has five months of annual program costs covered by its current reserves.  

Charity Intelligence has sent this update to FoodShare Toronto for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming. 

Updated on August 15, 2023 by Alessandra Castino.

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending December
202220212020
Administrative costs as % of revenues 1.7%1.5%2.6%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 1.0%1.6%2.6%
Total overhead spending 2.7%3.1%5.1%
Program cost coverage (%) 39.1%35.8%40.7%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $000s
202220212020
Donations 6,2606,5016,632
Government funding 665779953
Fees for service 4,3744,9664,297
Special events 1573103
Investment income 8813212
Other income 3115292
Total revenues 11,43212,60212,088
Program costs 9,74310,9299,467
Grants 1,048967446
Administrative costs 189192309
Fundraising costs 64102173
Total spending 11,04312,19110,396
Cash flow from operations 3894111,692
Capital spending 13216980
Funding reserves 4,2144,2584,038

Note: Ci adjusted deferred donations from donors, affecting revenues by $218k in F2022, $161k in F2021, and $1.0m in F2020. Ci excluded grants and donations related to capital assets recognized as revenue during the year, decreasing total revenues by $93k in F2022, $124k in F2021, and $169k in F2020. Ci included capital contributions received in other revenue, affecting total revenues by $31k in F2022, $152k in F2021, and $92k in F2020. According to its financial notes, FoodShare reports grants received from foundations net of distributions to foundations. Ci reported grants distributed to foundations in expenses rather than revenues, affecting revenues and expenses by $1.0m in F2022, $967k in F2021, and $446k in F2020.     

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 70

Avg. compensation: $60,459

Top 10 staff salary range:

$350k +
0
$300k - $350k
0
$250k - $300k
0
$200k - $250k
0
$160k - $200k
0
$120k - $160k
0
$80k - $120k
7
$40k - $80k
3
< $40k
0

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2021

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Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

No comments have been added by the charity.

Charity Contact

Website: www.foodshare.net
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 416-363-6441

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Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001