TORONTO – A new project that wants to bring fresh and affordable foods to low income neighbourhoods in Toronto launched Thursday.
The Mobile Good Food Market is a retrofitted bus stocked with fresh and affordable fruit and vegetables.
It will travel across Toronto, selling food to the neighbourhoods that have been identified as having poor access to healthy, affordable food.
For many, low income is the biggest barrier to access healthy food. “We know there are some parts of our city where people can’t afford to eat nutritious food,” said Dr. David McKeown, medical officer of health for the City of Toronto.
Others live in areas with poor access to public transit and too few food retail options within walking distance. Some neighbourhoods in Toronto are not easy to get around in if you don’t have access to a car.
“Many neighbourhoods in our city don’t have a lot of grocery stores that have high quality produce,” said Debbie Field, executive director of FoodShare.
Project organizers say even in areas that are well served by healthy food options, residents don’t have the type of cultural food that they are used to. Senior citizens also may have difficulty getting to food retail locations.
The United Way Toronto conducted a research report, called “Vertical Poverty,” to try and understand economic issues happening in Toronto’s inner suburbs and tall residential towers.
“We learned that, in addition to poverty being concentrated geographically across our city in the inner suburbs, it was increasingly concentrated in these tower communities,” said Susan McIsaac, president and CEO of the United Way Toronto.
“We heard about families that were nervous to come out of their homes and were really struggling with lack of access because of transportation and isolation to get to the kinds of services that they need, to be fully productive and thrive in our city.”
They decided to do something to ensure services were being brought to those people, while “enabling the residents to come up the solutions and ideas and programs that would strengthen their lives and the lives of their families,” said McIsaac.
Field said this type of project accomplishes a number of things, not only bringing produce to those who don’t have access to it, but also encouraging people to eat healthy food.
“We’re going to create some of that same great dynamic that we see at farmers’ markets, where there will be menus and tastings – people will see and get recipes,” said Field.
“It’s an opportunity to connect as tenants and residents and community,” Deborah Simon, the former chief operating officer at Toronto Community Housing.
McKeown said a strong food system must meet the needs of a wide range of people, of all income levels, races and cultures. He said a strong food system will not only have health benefits, but economic ones as well.
“If we’re able to create a more diverse and dynamic food system, not only will there be benefits for the health of the population, but there will be economic opportunities for the whole community,” said McKeown. “Right now our food system already accounts for one in eight jobs in the city, it’s a very important part of our economy. Making that sector of our economy more diverse, more dynamic, more open to innovation will help with our city prosperity.”
The project is a joint imitative between Toronto Public Health, FoodShare Toronto, United Way Toronto and CAMH’s Food Policy Research Imitative.
Mobile Good Food Market locations:
North Kipling/Mount Olive
- 2 Rowntree Road – Parking Lot
- Tuesday, 6:15-7:45pm (October 15, time change to 5:15-6:30pm)
6091 Bathurst Street
- Front Driveway
- Tuesday, 6-7:15pm
Tuxedo Court
- 50 Tuxedo Court – Parking Lot
- Wednesday, 2:30-3:45pm
Mornelle Court
- 90 Mornelle Court – Parking Lot
- Wednesday, 12:30-1:45pm
Lawrence Heights
- 10 Old Meadow Lane – Parking Lot
- Thursday, 2:30-3:45pm
Lotherton Pathway
- 100 Lotherton Pathway – Parking Lot
- Thursday, 6:15-7:30pm
Neptune Drive
- 155 Neptune Drive – Parking Lot
- Thursday, 4:15-5:30pm
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