The Good Food Box

As promised in my last post, I wanted to share some information about The Good Food Box program. A lot of communities have them - throughout Ontario, Canada and the world - although they don't always go by the same name.


From what I understand, the first program in Ontario started in Toronto in the 1990's and then other communities began to adapt the idea to fit their own demographics. Usually, it is run by volunteers, and they make it possible for anyone in the community to engage in monthly bulk purchasing of fresh fruits and vegetables. The goal is to make fresh, high quality fruits and vegetables available to everyone. What could be better than that?

I've been doing a student placement at the Barrie Community Health Centre, which hosts the Barrie Good Food Box, and they asked me to do an evaluation (survey) of how the program impacts those who buy it. Does it make a difference for them? In what ways? In doing this project, I've learned a lot about what a valuable program it is and how much people depend on it. I've also learned that the more people who participate, the better it is (and the more accessible it becomes). So, I wanted to spread the word to everyone.

Most programs operate on a pre-pay system, where you pay in cash during the first week of the month, and you pick up your box during the 3rd week. A small box costs around $9 and a large costs about $13 (depends where you are). Everyone gets the same veggies - you don't get to select the produce you'll receive because it's basically a bulk order. The program utilizes a local wholesaler who delivers the food to one location, and then a group of volunteers divide the produce into individual boxes for each purchaser to pick up. So, I picked up my first Orillia Good Food Box today, and for $13 this is what I got:




A photo of what it looked like when I picked it up this morning



A photo of everything that came out of the bag!!

In case you can't tell, it included potatoes, cabbage, romaine lettuce, cauliflower, carrots, onions, honeydew melon, apples, oranges, cucumber, mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes!

In my evaluation of the Barrie program, I've heard a lot of people say that it's like getting a treasure chest every month. You never know what you're going to get, but you always know it's going to be GOOD.