Good Food Box opens up to the public

Food Share representative Lori Nikkel spoke about healthy eating during a Good Food Box open house at the Lions Hall last week. The Good Food Box had something cooking at the Lions Hall last week.

About 10 booths from various health and lifestyle organizations and businesses — including the Innisfil YMCA, Simcoe County Farm Fresh, the Canadian Cancer Society, Egg Farmers of Ontario, Lakeside Retirement at Innisfil and the Alcona Beach Health Shoppe — were on display during an open house hosted by Innisfil's Good Food Box program. Several guest speakers also discussed a variety of health topics.

"It's a celebration about the Food Box; we want to educate people about health, and promote local businesses and food producers," said Food Box volunteer Darlene Bilawski. "We've got a lot of people here.

"We want to explain composting, gardening, and things like that."

In total, about 200 people were expected to attend the event, which also included a fundraising raffle and refreshments.

Food Box is a non-profit organization that provides healthy, and preferably local, food options for town residents. Every month, volunteers purchase fruits, vegetables and other healthy products from a bulk supplier, often at half the cost of a regular bundle of groceries.

Any resident can purchase food through the program, which helps encourage environmentally friendly eating habits, said Bilawski.

"We've been operating for a year now," said Bilawski. "You have to order a box of food every month. You come and pick it up at the Lions Hall on the third Thursday of every month. They're wholesale price, up to half as much as in a retail store. You get potatoes, onions and apples in every box. We've also had asparagus, cucumbers (and other seasonal vegetables). Our aim is to have healthy, affordable, good food for people of Innisfil.

"This is for everyone. It's not a food bank; it's for anyone that wants a deal."

And popularity in the program is growing, since its inception nearly one year ago. About 118 bag of groceries were purchased in June, up from 79 in May. The program also has about 20 regular volunteers, who sort and package food each month.

During the event, Food Box volunteers also collected donations. The money is used to provide food for needy families, said Bilawski.

"We have volunteers that are in here packing all these boxes of fruits and vegetables," she said. "A large bag will handle a family for a week. The more people who are involved, the more we can promote health, have talks and do more things."

For more information on the program, or to volunteer or donate, call Cathy at 436- 3178.