A lot of food is prepared for hockey games and concerts at Rogers Place — and it doesn't all get eaten.

But not all the leftovers end up in a dumpster. The Rock and Wrap It Up program tries to ensure that quality food left over after events is donated to the Edmonton Food Bank.

Since November, Rogers Place has donated 2,880 lbs of food — or about 2,216 meals — to those who need it most. Every few weeks, the food bank arrives with a refrigerated truck to pick up between 500 and 700 pounds of prepared food.

The whole process of donating the food is carefully monitored by Alberta Health Services, said Edmonton Food Bank spokesperson Tamisan Bencz-Knight. It's prepared in the arena's industrial kitchen and has not yet been plated.

"You'll have soups that just sit in the pot, waiting, or you have pork chops and steaks and everything that ... just had to be warmed up, but then they don't use it," she said.

"They package those properly for us, based on Alberta Health Services guidelines, then they give us a call."

Rogers Place chef Johnny Blackerby holds one of the menu offerings from restaurants within the arena. (CBC/Min Dhariwal)

Healthy meals and comfort foods

Rogers Place executive chef Johnny Blackerby said a surplus of food is a part of the business, and the program is a great way to deal with the leftovers.

"We do a lot of strategic planning on trying not to overproduce, of course," Blackerby said. "But at the end of every large event, we do have some overproduction.

"We just can't run out of food in our business, so that kind of leads to some of the overproduction."

Blackerby said numerous factors go into determining how much food to make for each event: whether it's cold outside, whether the timing of the event means attendees may not have eaten beforehand, or whether the event falls on a weekend.

Leftover food is cooled or frozen and placed in foil packs with lids, he said.

It just makes sense to donate it to somebody who could use that food and have a healthy meal as opposed to putting it down the drain. - Johnny Blackerby, Executive Chef, Rogers Place

So far, Rogers Place has donated "a little bit of everything," he said. That includes a hot vegetables and starch, and dishes like butter chicken and rice with mixed vegetables, or teriyaki beef, fried rice and vegetables.

And, of course, some popular comfort foods, like mac and cheese.

"We make sure it's a healthy meal, lots of salads," Blackerby said.

"It just makes sense to donate it to somebody who could use that food and have a healthy meal, as opposed to putting it down the drain."

The Shaw Conference Centre, Northlands, Fairmont Hotel Macdonald and Westin Hotel also take part in the program.

Some of the food donated through the program will be eaten by vulnerable people living in the inner city, Bencz-Knight said.

"It goes to people that may already have their immunities compromised, so we have to make sure it's good quality food," she said.

"It's not as simple as just taking everything and handing it out to people. We have to make sure that it's safe."

'It's a big success for us as well'

Some Rogers Place patrons have spoken out about seeing seemingly good food thrown out in garbage cans.​

Blackerby said all efforts are made to use up food before its expiry date, but that's not always possible.

"If we do find something that's expired, we're definitely not going to donate that product," he said.

The food bank has picked up food six times since November, Blackerby said.

It's a program he said he hopes other sporting teams get on board with.

"There's opportunity here to reach out to their communities and to do something for their cities," he said.

"It's a big success for us as well. We're glad we can serve the community and be able to do something useful for this food."