COST RECOVERY IN FOODSHARE PROGRAMS

Some of our programs generate revenues to help pay for themselves–– for example, The Good Food Box, whose customers pay from $12 - $32 per box. Though the fee paid covers the cost of the food in the box, it does not cover the infrastructure necessary to run the program (trucking costs, photocopying etc.).

We are constantly reducing our overheads by increasing efficiency, but we also believe that the project is worth the subsidies that are invested in it. Unlike a grocery store, the Good Food Box has more than one bottom line: the low income people who get fresh, healthy food delivered to areas where they might not normally have easy access; the opportunity that diverse volunteers have to get out, meet different people, contribute to their community and share a healthy lunch; the community building that takes place around a Good Food Box drop-off when neighbours get to know one another, share cooking tips or even have a potluck; the newsletter that offers nutrition and cooking tips, while keeping customers in touch with food issues–– these are all spin-off benefits from the project that do not come out of profit-driven enterprises.

As well, when one program gets going it can create the critical mass necessary to start up and support other programs. The Good Food Box, Focus on Food, the Field to Table Kitchen and Urban Agriculture projects have all been built by sharing some of the same the same infrastructure and staff. Other projects that have a cost recovery component are: Field to Table Catering, urban agriculture microenterprises and the Toronto Kitchen Incubator.

Other FoodShare projects are pure community service–– such as teaching how to make homemade baby food, supporting community gardens and kitchens and operating the FoodLink Hotline. Donations are key to ensuring that we can run these programs that help to increase access to healthy food while building community and self-reliance.