Thunder Bay’s Regional Food Distribution Association (RFDA) has launched a pilot project, backed by volunteers in Southern Ontario.
The Veggie Hamper project sees vegetables pre-packaged in Windsor and Leamington, and shipped to Thunder Bay for local distribution.
Executive Director Volker Kromm says having vegetables ready to be distributed upon arrival in the city helps speed up the process and prevents food waste.
“It works overall if the entire load is spoken for, and within hours of it arriving we have it distributed to various agencies” says Kromm, “and sometimes people have 3 to 5 days of vegetables.”
Kromm goes on to say the project is a great way to give the people of Thunder Bay healthier options.
“It’s a really good positive way be able to supplement healthy food to the people we serve.”
The executive director continues, “We always do our non-perishable pallets, hampers to the food banks but this allows us to add some nutritious vegetables.”
The project is in the very early stages, and the RFDA will be assessing and determining whether to find funding for it in the future.
