AANGEN Transforming Food Waste into Creative Meals Gurbeen Bhasin leads Aangen, a Canadian social enterprise focused on food and cleaning services. Bhasin actively uses food rescue to power her business, turning would-be food waste into creative meals. Using misshapen carrots or slightly bruised apples does not affect the quality or nutrition of the meals, and refilling cleaning product bottles drastically reduces plastic waste in the housekeeping arm of her business. These simple actions not only reduce Aangen’s environmental impact but also cut costs. That’s something Bhasin’s clients appreciate. Members of the Aangen team proudly display their upcycled vegetable-based dehydrated meals, from soups to dried meals and baby food options. (Photo: Courtesy of Aangen) Bhasin has been committed to sustainability for 25 years. She also notes that the situation has worsened since she got involved in the green economy. “The world cannot afford to turn a blind eye anymore,” she said. “Our planet needs us. She’s screaming for our help.” Businesses are increasingly listening. “Greening” is becoming an economic benefit. Bhasin herself actively seeks out business partners with similarly green goals.AANGEN Transforming Food Waste into Creative Meals Gurbeen Bhasin leads Aangen, a Canadian social enterprise focused on food and cleaning services. Bhasin actively uses food rescue to power her business, turning would-be food waste into creative meals. Using misshapen carrots or slightly bruised apples does not affect the quality or nutrition of the meals, and refilling cleaning product bottles drastically reduces plastic waste in the housekeeping arm of her business. These simple actions not only reduce Aangen’s environmental impact but also cut costs. That’s something Bhasin’s clients appreciate. Members of the Aangen team proudly display their upcycled vegetable-based dehydrated meals, from soups to dried meals and baby food options. (Photo: Courtesy of Aangen) Bhasin has been committed to sustainability for 25 years. She also notes that the situation has worsened since she got involved in the green economy. “The world cannot afford to turn a blind eye anymore,” she said. “Our planet needs us. She’s screaming for our help.” Businesses are increasingly listening. “Greening” is becoming an economic benefit. Bhasin herself actively seeks out business partners with similarly green goals.

​"I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, I was constantly feeling sick and just praying all the time," Kandiller said. Kandiller is the director of finance at Aangen — a Toronto non profit that helps address hunger and poverty in marginalized communities locally and globally. The executive director and founder of the organization, Gurbeen Bhasin, told Kandiller she wanted to help get her family out. Feeling helpless, Kandiller wasn't sure it was even possible. Read More...

Toronto has a massive urban orchard. There's an abundance of fruit, growing in backyards and public spaces all across the city. Not Far From The Tree is a program that's helping not just to harvest the produce, but also to make sure it's shared with those who need it most.

Bhasin said it’s a “win-win-win on multiple levels” for Aangen because it keeps the organization sustainable by employing people who need work and serving people who need help. “It’s an experience where we’ve just filled a need. It’s crisis management,” she said. “We’re helping people who need shelter and need food. We’re providing a need that is really basic and is an absolutely fundamental human right. Everybody should have access to food.”

​Gurbeen Bhasin grew up hearing stories of her great grandmother’s aangen (Sanskrit for courtyard) in Bombay, India. Traditionally, mothers and grandmothers gathered in this section of an Indian household to pickle foods, organize religious get-togethers and weddings, enjoy tea, and gossip with neighbours. The aangen became the site of a Wednesday morning tradition: She welcomed neighbours—irrespective of caste, class, or religion—which developed into a sisterhood community sharing joys and sorrows and helping each other solve domestic issues.

Since the city went on lockdown after Mayor John Tory (LLB ’78) declared a state of emergency on March 23, Aangen has prepared and delivered 8,000 meals to city shelters and respites. “That’s the number one priority: to make sure people in shelters are fed,” says the founder and executive director of the not-for-profit social enterprise.

“Twenty-five per cent of children were not eating breakfast and didn’t have any lunch to eat and were in school from 7:30 a.m. until 3 p.m.,” Maciel told The Villager.

At SpaceiShare, we believe that sharing and giving back to the community is important! SpaceiShare is committed to donating a portion of all profits to community organizations and we are pleased to present Aangen Community Centre as our current charitable benefactor. We were so inspired by Gurbeen and her team of passionate people, that we immediately felt a connection in what they’re working to achieve. Aangen programs support local issues, such as helping the homeless and hungry in Toronto, and international initiatives, such as bridging the gender gap in India.

Aangen is a nonprofit social enterprise that creates jobs for marginalized women to support breaking the cycle of poverty. We offer catering and cleaning services to homeless shelters, businesses and families in need. This is how we create jobs. The jobs help women who have had barriers to employment create empowerment and self esteem. Additionally, we work with local grocers and farmers to get our food supply and we are able to process food rescue into delicious and nutritious meals! It's a win, win, win!

Advancing social justice and equity in Toronto has been the focus of Aangen for over two decades. Aangen shared its successes promoting food security and its bold vision for a hunger-free society at a party at Revival Bar.

Gurbeen has a really interesting story about her education, career and how the non-profit social enterprise was created. The purpose is to create empowerment breaks the cycle of poverty.

Aangen, like the Rotary Club of Toronto West, is dedicated to improving lives locally and internationally. Heather Maciel, Aangen's program director, told us about their efforts.

Being an independent social enterprise means having the freedom and flexibility to respond to shifting community needs, including helping other non-profits experiencing unexpected service gaps. As Gurbeen Bhasin, social worker and founder of Aangen, explains, “As part of our social enterprise, we cook meals for shelters, and we had a youth shelter call on us for meals for the youth over the last Easter weekend.

Aangen's roots arise from the initiatives of a woman, Mataji or "dear mother", who decided 18 years ago to open her home on Wednesdays to people interested in her healing food and teas, and meditation. She passed these traditions to her daughter, granddaughter and finally her great granddaughter, Executive Director Gurbeen Bhasin who currently runs Aangen

In Sanskrit, the word aangen refers to the front yard of a home where community members gather to give each other comfort and nurturing. That was the tradition in Gurbeen Bhasin’s family. Her great-grandmother, grandmother and mother all opened their homes every Wednesday. They’d make food for anyone who wanted to drop by, and people could find a shoulder to lean on if they were going through a tough time. “It was all about the community gathering and supporting each other,” says Bhasin.