Fresh Food Access

Through active engagement of volunteers and partners, Loving Spoonful moves good fresh food across the city to ensure that it is accessible to all in Kingston & Area.

Since 2008, $1.94 million of fresh food has been collected from food donors and delivered to 52 locations!

The food we reclaim is all healthy and perishable: vegetables, fruit, baked goods, meats, dairy products and healthy prepared foods. All of this beautiful food passes both Loving Spoonful’s Healthy Food Guidelines and our moto that we only deliver it if it is fresh enough to feed our own families. People in poverty or struggling at a shelter need nothing less to cope.

Find out more about our Fresh Food Access program below:

Fresh Food Sources

Fresh Food Recipients

Fresh Food Delivery

FRESH FOOD SOURCES

Where does the fresh food come from?

Our donations of fresh food are sourced locally in various ways.

Fresh Food Donations

Surplus fresh food donations are picked up from farmers, gardeners, restaurants, bakeries, grocery stores and butchers by our volunteer Fresh Food Delivery Drivers.

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Grow A Row

Every growing season, dozens of farmers and gardeners plant and grow an extra row for donation, and deliver them at specified drop-off locations. Loving Spoonful volunteers deliver this harvest directly to our community.

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Gleaning

During the months of August to November, the Gleaning Project works with local farmers, youth and community volunteers to harvest surplus crops in backyards and farmers fields for direct donation to our community.

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FRESH FOOD RECIPIENTS

Where does the fresh food go?

Donated fresh food directly goes to ensure that the most vulnerable in our communities have access to the supremely nourishing power of fresh, good food.

Local Community Agencies

When local community agencies receive fresh food, not only are they able to provide this nourishment to the people they serve, but they also free up some funds to go towards delivering their service programs, staffing their facilities, and keeping their operations going.

Logo of Dawn House

Logo of South Frontenac Community Services

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Fresh Food Market Stands

Loving Spoonful's Fresh Food Market Stands have been placed in locations where the need is the greatest, and they make good, fresh food available to anyone who walks by. Anyone who needs it is welcome to take it -- no questions asked -- providing access to good food with dignity.

For the most up-to-date active locations, please contact our Fresh Food Access Coordinator, Ashley Burns, by clicking below.

EMAIL ASHLEY

The Meat Up

A unique program that connects service agencies and meal programs with quality meat from local suppliers at a discount, providing healthier meals for clients experiencing hunger.

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FRESH FOOD DELIVERY

Thank you to our volunteer Fresh Food Delivery Drivers! This wouldn’t work without you.

Join the brigade and help us to make sure everyone has access to fresh food! Click on the "Be a Volunteer Fresh Food Delivery Driver" button below to learn more about this volunteer opportunity, or email volunteer@lovingspoonful.org.

Be a Volunteer Fresh Food Delivery Driver

How does Fresh Food Delivery work?

Check out this video from YGK Experience as they ride along on one of our fresh food delivery routes!

"Thank you sooo much for the wonderful produce you delivered this past Tuesday. It was gone within a few minutes! The folks who received it were quite excited!"

ALLISON FROM CROSSROADS UNITED CHURCH

"My wife and I are having fun doing these. She was a prison nurse for 27 years and is very understanding of the folks at the recipient agencies. We feel that how they end up in these situations isn't the issue, but that anyone deserves good food and a friendly face."

VOLUNTEER FRESH FOOD DELIVERY DRIVER