Windsor Eats is hoping you’ll 'Burger it Forward' this February

A campaign launched at the outset of February is aiming to relieve growing food insecurity by contributing proceeds from burger purchases at participating restaurants to food banks across the nation.

Only one local restaurant, Windsor Eats, is taking part in the campaign.

The restaurant at 400 Erie St. E. Has developed a new offering, “The Burger Verde,” which will be available only for the month of February.

“The name of it came from the use of our signature green sauce that we put on it that we absolutely loved and have been integrating as much as possible,” said Windsor Eats co-owner, Adriano Ciotoli.

For every featured burger purchase, Canada Beef will donate a meal to Food Banks Canada.

“We look to do some community good by raising funds for the food banks, locally in the communities provincially and right across the country,” said Joyce Parslow of Canada Beef. “We're also using this effort to help support local community restaurants.”

Provincial beef cattle farmer and rancher associations have also joined the campaign, making donations to regional food banks with either ground beef or cash donations.

“Ground beef is so important to them because it’s a really familiar food, people know how to cook it, know how to use it, young people love it. And it fits into so many cross-cultural cuisines too,” said Parslow.

That’s big news for places like the Unemployed Help Centre Food Bank.

“The cost of beef has gone up a lot. So we're always looking for ways to get donations just to meet our our demands,” said Ali Bazzi, of the Unemployed Help Centre Hub of Opportunities.

Bazzi says it’s not just prices that are climbing. The client base is also growing daily, Bazzi said, making it harder to provide nutritional ingredients in their baskets.

“So it's very hard to purchase the extra you know extra product for especially when we're talking about you know, beef and chicken,” he said.

The campaign — featuring 90 restaurants across Canada — runs throughout the month of February. The Burger it Forward website features product details, a map showing participating restaurants and contest details.

“There's a lot of people in need right now, especially with inflation rising as much as it is,” acknowledges Ciotoli.

“We thought this was a great way to be able to help people out and do good, while still giving people amazing food.”