The Fresh Food Box runs like a large buying club with centralized buying and coordination. Once a month individuals place orders for boxes with volunteer coordinators in their neighbourhood and receive a box brimming with fresh, tasty, quality, fruits and vegetables.

Customers pay $13 for a small box or $17 for a family size box. Each box contains the same mixture of food, only the quantity varies. The contents change with each delivery, depending on what is in season, the price and customer preferences. Volunteer truck drivers deliver the boxes to the neighbourhood drop-offs, where the local volunteer coordinators ensure customers receive their boxes.

We choose locally grown and Ontario grown products for the box whenever possible because we want to know where and how our food is produced, to support local growers and reduce the fossil fuels burned when we import food. Customers pay for the cost of the food itself, while distribution overheads are subsidized. All of the boxes are accompanied by a newsletter which offers nutrition information, as well as easy and economical food preparation tips and recipes.

Professional evaluation of similar programs in Ontario shows that participating in the program helps people access a more nutritious diet. It is now thought that up to 70% of deaths result from diseases that are diet-related, and there is good evidence that eating fruits and vegetables is key to preventing disease. Not only is it a matter of justice that everyone should have access to food to keep them healthy – it also makes sense because of the enormous costs to the health care system that result from treating these diseases.

  

The Halton Fresh Food Box makes top quality, fresh food available in a way that does not stigmatize people, fosters community development and makes the healthy choice, the easy choice.