The Rural Voice, 2001-11, Page 17n Huron, van der Meer hopes to
include more local produce in the
baskets, though she realizes it will
take more organization. Already she
is dealing with two local growers: Ed
Laithwaite of Apple Park, an orchard
operation near Goderich and George
Hubbard of G. L. Hubbard Rutabagas
of Blyth. She's set up an arrangement
with a local grocery which will sell
produce at only a small markup over
the wholesale rate but after seeing the
difference in prices in a bushel of
apples between the wholesale rate
and the farm -gate price, she thinks
she can make Food Box customers'
money go a lot farther if she can buy
as much as possible directly from
farmers. She's currently seeking
additional local suppliers.
That additional dream of
connecting farmers to consumers was
originally a problem for the Field to
Table project, she says. Farmers were
looking to sell whole fields of
produce to a single buyer and weren't
interested in supplying food for 40 or
so food boxes. Since then, of course,
the program has grown to a size
where making orders are significant
enough to make direct purchase from
farmers a viable option.
Buying directly from farmers for
100 or more food boxes given her
limited time may prove impractical
in Huron too, van der Meer admits
but so far growers have been helpful.
While the Good Food Boxes are
available to people of all income
groups, the concept is designed to
help people on fixed incomes. The
food boxes are ordered and paid for
at the first of the month, then
delivered at the middle of the month.
This gives two weeks for tallying up
how much food is required, ordering
it, and preparing for the packing day.
But for people on a fixed income
such as seniors, it also means they
can order early in the month when
the old age or welfare cheque arrives,
then receive good nutritious food
later when they might be short on
money and tempted not to eat well.
Fruits and vegetables are generally
not available at food banks.
It's a food security issue, van der
Meer says — not in the definition
usually thought of by farm
organizations in terms of producing
safe food, but from the point of
keeping good nutritious food on the
table. Because poor people are
paying exactly the same amount as
wealthier people and becausethere's
no subsidy involved, there's an issue
of self-esteem, she says, of knowing
you can pay for your own food.
Though there's a wide variety of
buyers for the first month of the
Huron project, van der Meer is
pleased that there is a high
percentage of seniors and single
income people. The 96 boxes will go
even further because seniors living
alone have been encouraged to split a
box with a friend or neighbour.
Typically the box they receive
will vary according to what is
seasonally available, generally eight
or nine kinds of vegetables and three
or four kinds of fruit. Staples like
potatoes, carrots and onions will
usually be in the box. In late summer
things like peaches might be
included. For her first basket, van der
Meer was planning seasonal produce
like squash, rutabaga and apples.
Each box will also include a
newsletter with information about the
program, nutritional tips and recipes
and background on some of the
producers who have provided food to
the basket (included in the first box
1
will be a copy of September The
Rural Voice story on Hubbard's
rutabaga operation).
Come packing day the volun-
teers come in. This is one of
the pleasures of the project,
says Price who says there's an
average of eight to 10 people at pack-
ing sessions in Walkerton. "It's great.
You meet a lot of different people
you wouldn't ordinarily meet."
For van der Meer, who has
worked with volunteers in many
different projects, "This has been a
unique experience. It's the first time
I've had people phoning and asking
'can I help'." So far she has 30
volunteers from all over the county.
It was the spirit of volunteers that
excited van der Meer about the
project after attending a packing day
in Tara. "There was a lot of
laughter," she recalls. "It was
efficient and quick."
Though still in the very early
going, the Huron project seems to be
following the successful path of the
Good Food Box in other areas of the
province — bringing consumers
nutritious food and a greater
knowledge of where that food carne
from.0
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