Posted by Shannon Christy in fruit and vegetables, ingredients, nutrition, politics on August 17, 2007 at 7:44 am

FoodShare’s Good Food Box is a box of produce available by special order to the general public. The boxes come in a variety of sizes with options ranging from a small box for $12 to a large box of organically grown produce for $32. These are very affordable prices for delicious fruits and vegetables, which may include a box of Clementines or a bag of freshly harvested tomatoes.

According to Zahra Parvinian, Good Food Box and Produce Manager, prices are low because of the relationship the organization has with produce distributors and the free labour involved in the warehouse through volunteers. However, though price may be a major concern from a consumer standpoint, Zahra is quick to point out that the price is not the point; nutrition, knowledge and quality are. “Education and empowerment is in everything we do,” says Lori Nikkel, communications manager for Food Share.

The boxes provide produce to individuals who either do not have it available to them in their neighbourhood or would choose other items they are more familiar with in their local grocery store. According to Lori Nikkel, “Individuals tend to choose the same items”, and tend to neglect the numerous nutritional items available from relatively affordable produce. In the Good Food Box, the produce changes according to what is available that week. This change forces individuals to alternate their meals, thus ensuring a more balanced and nutritious diet.

The Good Food Box empowers consumers by offering nutritious produce while simultaneously providing volunteers with on-the-job training. Volunteers are involved in assembling the produce for each box, distributing the boxes across Toronto, and cleaning returned boxes. Volunteers include individuals who have spare time and want to help to young interns in the Focus on Food programme which includes youth between the ages of 15 and 30. According to Janet Armstrong, who is in charge of ten interns working in the kitchen, “the programme is a job-training programme for young people with barriers to employment.” Because these volunteers are essential to the day-to-day operations of FoodShare, they are carefully screened by administrators. Only sixteen are selected for a six-month internship in the organization where they are taught job and life skills. The simple fact is there would be no Good Food Box without the volunteers.

The Good Food Box is available to everyone and both instructions on ordering as well as sample contents can be found on FoodShare's website. The Good Food Box is but one example of the many programmes offered at FoodShare. Other programmes include a catering company, a kitchen incubator that assists entrepreneurs in starting food-related businesses, a good food market, and an urban agricultural community gardening team. Food may be the theme all of these programmes have in common but there real purpose is to educate and empower the people of Toronto.