Community Food Smart is helping families afford high-quality food
With the cost of groceries today, many families face significant challenges in their quest to live a healthy and balanced lifestyle. Community Food Smart understands this struggle and is trying to help, ensuring that people who belong to their bulk-food buying program can nourish themselves with the best fruits and vegetables, often provided by local farms.
Community Food Smart is more than just a provincial bulk food-buying club. It’s a community with a shared sense of responsibility. Each local host partner and their volunteers work together to make fresh produce accessible. Depending on where you live, monthly fees range from $15 to $20. Most bags contain approximately $35 to $40 of fresh produce.
“It’s a very fair price, and I don’t think anybody could argue with that,” said Monica Grant, Executive Director of the Valley Food Bank.
The once-a-month food program gets members to pay for their bag or bags a week before. You come to the pick-up point and get your food on pick-up day. Community Food Smart asks members to return their bags, which are reused in the next cycle, ensuring a sustainable and environmentally friendly distribution system.
Gail Farnsworth organizes the Nackawic branch under the name Bulk Buying Bag. Farnsworth has 12 volunteers who help pack bags for between 70 and 100 members. Winter is their busiest time of year. Farnsworth says member rates in the summer go down due to many having home gardens or being away on vacation.
Stephanie Levesque is organizing Community Food Smart for the Neqotkuk (Tobique First Nation). She says her community currently has an average of 40 members per month.
Victoria Hutt, the organizer for the Florenceville-Bristol branch, has 230 members and 30 to 40 volunteers. Hutt says many members volunteer to give back.
“I often am able to join the volunteers when packing the produce bags. It is a heartwarming experience to see the multigenerational group prepare the bags,” said Community Food Smart member Laurea Shaw.
In Woodstock, their branch has reached a high of 275 members since their July pick-up day.
Farnsworth said the biggest benefit is the cost savings.
“I’m not having to go to the grocery store as much, and that saves me money in the end because I’m not doing those impulse buying,” said Farnsworth.
A bonus to Community Food Smart is the opportunity for members to try new vegetables and recipes. Community Food Smart encourages people to expand their taste buds and incorporate new ways of nourishment.
Many schools have incorporated Community Food Smart with their backpack programs, ensuring students acquire proper nutrition.
The only obstacle for Community Food Smart is the need for a delivery service. Transportation is a problem for those who cannot pick up their bags, resulting in many people not signing up. Farnsworth says they are hesitant to deliver because they want to avoid members taking advantage of volunteers.
“Anybody who is outside of the Woodstock area might have a hard time getting in,” said Grant.
Some members of the greater Woodstock community have ordered and donated Community Food Smart bags to the Vally Food Bank, which distributes and sometimes delivers to their clients.
Grant believes the Community Food Smart program could benefit from partnering with a cab service or Royal Rides.
