From left: Della Ross, Cook, Neil Pryce, Food Services Attendant, and Sheldon Kilcullen, Sanitation Warewash Attendant, in St. Boniface Hospital’s Kitchen.
August 8, 2025
Thanks to our friends at Réseau Compassion Network for sharing this story with us.
After a decade of dreaming, and with the support of a $64,000 grant from St. Boniface Hospital Foundation, staff at the health care facility got a composting program up and running that diverted 16,216 kilograms of food waste from September to December in 2024.
Katie North, a nurse manager and the head of the environmental committee, explained that it took a team effort to get composting activities off the ground. “Once Hospital executive had added environmental sustainability as a strategic priority, we knew the timing was right,” she said. “We were able to form the committee in mid-2024 and by September, the program was underway.”
Naturally, the Kitchen was the first area to get involved. Carla Williams, Manager of Food Services, shared that the learning curve wasn’t too steep. “Other health-care food service sites in Winnipeg were already composting,” she explained. “We work closely together with them, so we were able to learn from their journeys. We also reached out to the Café Marché, the cafeteria food vendor, and they were very excited to join.”
Williams’ team is responsible for planning and preparing 400 to 450 patient meals per day. She noted the composting program diverted 11,398 more kilograms of food waste from January to March of 2025.