TORONTO -- An innovative initiative in Calgary and Edmonton is providing residents in under-served communities with access to affordable and nutritious food thanks to its mobile grocery stores.
Developed in partnership with the City of Calgary and the Leftovers Foundation, which collects leftover food for social agencies, began as a pilot project in Calgary in the fall of 2018 before it expanded to Edmonton in October.
In Calgary, the 鈥済rocery store on wheels鈥� is housed in a retrofitted city bus that travels on more than 60 routes in 20 communities every month. At its dedicated stops, customers can shop for fresh fruit, produce, and other groceries at a reasonable price.
鈥淲e really wanted to bring in a model that would support bringing healthy, affordable food right to their doorstep,鈥� Fresh Routes Co-founder Lourdes Juan told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning on Thursday.
To do this, the non-profit organization buys its products wholesale, then sells them in the community at a discounted rate, usually between 40 and 60 per cent cheaper than retail.
Juan explained that Fresh Routes is a social enterprise, which means all of the funds that come into the organization are reinvested back into the program so they can open up more markets.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really helped us to scale the organization from eight markets a month to 60, and opening our operations in Edmonton,鈥� she said.
The Edmonton program, which launched Oct. 4, uses a refrigerated truck to transport groceries to different communities in need.
Juan said the organization targets 鈥渇ood deserts鈥� or neighbourhoods with poor access to nutritious, affordable food.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at areas where there鈥檚 not a lot of transit, areas that don鈥檛 have a grocery store,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here are actually a lot of identified areas in Calgary and in Edmonton.鈥�
Fresh Routes operates year-round with occasional pop-up markets held indoors during inclement weather.
Juan said they hope to grow the program nationally with plans to launch in Winnipeg next year and eventually in Toronto. She also said they鈥檙e eyeing a possible expansion into the U.S. one day.
