Good Food Stands Continue to Increase Access to Healthy Food

Published on: 2019/08/23 - in Releases

RELEASE — Following the successes over the past year, Good Food Stands will continue as a pilot project for an additional year starting Monday.

From August 2018 to June 2019, Good Food Stand locations in Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington were visited 1,600 times and sold more than 5,300 kilograms of healthy and fresh food at affordable prices.

As part of the community’s Poverty Reduction Initiative, United Way of KFL&A and the City of Kingston co-chair a Food Advisory Committee that has worked diligently to develop strategies to address food access. Created with input from service providers and people with lived experience of poverty and food insecurity, Good Food Stands emerged in 2018 as an initiative to make fresh produce more readily available and affordable for everyone.

Heading into the second year of the pilot, Good Food Stands will be open to the public once a month, offering a variety of fresh produce at reduced prices. Local school boards and their unions have continued to work together to arrange for program delivery and support from school volunteers at five high schools. This year an additional location has been added at Verona Free Methodist Church to better serve the rural community.

No appointment is needed and the community is invited to experience the friendly atmosphere of shopping at one of the following six Good Food Stand locations in KFL&A:

  • Regiopolis-Notre Dame Catholic High School
  • Sydenham High School
  • Verona Free Methodist Church
  • Napanee District Secondary School
  • Loyalist Collegiate and Vocational Institute
  • Bayridge Secondary School

The locations and schedule for each Good Food Stand can be found at: goodfoodstand-kfla.ca.

“We recognize that many people experience barriers to accessing sufficient, safe and nutritious food,” says Bhavana Varma, President & CEO of United Way of KFL&A. “It is our hope that the program will continue to make it easier for people across the region to access fresh produce, and as a result, eat healthier. We are excited about all of the multi-sectoral partnerships that made this initiative come together and continue to support it.”

The Good Food Stand continues to be a collaborative effort with many partners across the region who have come together to develop this initiative. Tony Deodato & Sons Ltd. will continue to supply fresh produce to be sold to the public at a reduced price. A coordinator from Kingston Community Health Centres will also continue to facilitate program delivery at each school and at the new church location. Generally, Good Food Stands will operate from 3 to 5:30 p.m. one afternoon of each month, and one morning a month from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the church location. The focus is on providing a local sustainable solution to address food access and its root causes, and making a difference in the community.

The Good Food Stand initiative is supported by the KFL&A Food Access Advisory Committee and co-funded by the City of Kingston, Community Foundation for Kingston & Area, and United Way of KFL&A, with in-kind marketing and evaluation support provided by KFL&A Public Health.

For more information and a complete schedule for the six Good Food Stand locations in KFL&A visit: goodfoodstand-kfla.ca or email Good Food Stand Coordinator, Kathy Sturmey at: kathys@kchc.ca.


Release: City of Kingston
Photo: Christo Anestev (cc)