Our Impact
Between June 2022 and January 2024, Fresh Food Weekly hosted 36 delivery days which resulted in the delivery of 2,867 fresh food meal boxes. Each meal box had an average value offering of $104.
​
In 2022, Fresh Food Weekly did monthly meal box deliveries.
​
In 2023, Fresh Food Weekly did biweekly meal box deliveries.
​
During these 19 months of delivering fresh food to low-income families for free, Fresh Food Weekly spent $93,282.07 on the food given.
This food was valued at $362,500.00 exactly.
Here's a breakdown of what we gave:
Why is milk
so important?
Milk is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals, particularly calcium. It has an important role in bone health. Nutritionists recommend that people have milk and other dairy products, such as yogurt and cheese, every day as part of a balanced diet.
Milk & Cream: Cost & Value
Between June 2022 and January 2024, we spent $12,836 on milk and cream at wholesale, which saved us $4,075.00 because we're able to buy in bulk.
Milk & Cream: Litres Delivered
For Fresh Food Weekly, $13K = 8,000 litres of milk and cream.
Throughout this 19-month time span, we offered additional milk and cream variants over time. By offering more milk variants, we're increasing the likelihood of our recipients consuming the food they receive from us.
​
Each time a new variant was added, it was because a new program recipient couldn't drink any of the current variant offerings at that time.
​
This is one of the many ways that Fresh Food Weekly breaks down barriers to food insecurity; we make sure that we're providing foods that our program recipients like and will actually consume.
We started offering 1% after the first delivery day when one of our recipients informed us that she can't drink 2% milk.
We introduced lactose-free milk into our milk and cream variant offerings fairly early on as well (4th month in).
In an effort to reduce the weight of our delivery bags, we started offering all different sizes of milk and cream products.
We started offering 1% after the first delivery day when one of our recipients informed us that she can't drink 2% milk.
Recipient Milk Preferences
Timeline to Deliver 8,000L
Butter Preferences
Butter: Pounds Delivered
Between June 2022 and January 2024, we spent $8,755 on butter at wholesale, which saved us $6,761 because we're able to buy in bulk.
Butter: Cost & Value
For Fresh Food Weekly, $8,700 = 1,700 lbs of butter.
Health Benefits of Cheese
Most cheeses are rich in calcium, but hard cheeses tend to have more calcium than soft cheeses.
Calcium is well-known for bone development and maintaining healthy bones, but it also plays an essential role in blood circulation and muscle and nerve functions, per the National Institutes of Health. And a 2020 review published in Food Science & Nutrition suggests that eating cheese with higher calcium may protect against obesity, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.
How much cheese has Fresh Food Weekly delivered in our community?
"Between June 2022 and January 2024, we delivered +500,000 grams of cheese throughout our community, for free."
Cheese Variants Delivered
***Cheeses are in order of lowest calcium content [left] to highest calcium content [right].***
Timeline to Deliver 500,000g
It took a while to find additional cheese variants at wholesale, but when we finally found a good price, we started offering additional types of cheese in our product offerings.
Cheese Variant Preferences
When we finally did start offering these four cheese variants, Cheddar was by far the most popular option.
Eggs
Of course, we needed to include eggs in our meal box deliveries.
Eggs provide a valuable source of quality protein – while also containing 13 essential vitamins and minerals, alongside necessary omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants.
Why are eggs so heathy for us?
1. Eggs Are Nutrient Rich
​
2. Eggs Provide Excellent Quality Protein
​
3. Eggs Improve Levels of “Good” Cholesterol
​
4. Eggs Provide A Great Source Of Vitamin D
​
5. Eggs Are Filling And Help With Weight Management
6. Eggs Are Among the Best Dietary Sources of Choline
​
7. Eggs Are A Good Source of Omega-3s
​
8. Eggs Contain Antioxidants That Are Beneficial for The Eyes
​
9. Eggs Help Boost Nutrient Intake for Healthy Aging
​
10. Eggs Can Support Mental Health
On-Going Produce Donations
Timeline to Deliver +25,000 Eggs
Eggs are highly nutritional, easy to transport, easy to store and easy to deliver. They should always be included in every meal box delivery.
x 648 heads
x 432 heads
x 816 stalks
x 3,816 lbs
or
x 3,483 lbs
x 791 squashes
These are all the produce items Fresh Food Weekly received on an on-going and unlimited basis, throughout each item's growing season.
​
As you can see, we received an unlimited amount of carrots and onions year-round; so they were available throughout 100 percent of the year. However, we only offered these two items on a monthly basis. In the past, we had offered them more frequently and recipients found biweekly offering of carrots and onions to be too frequent.
Leafy greens were freely available for 25 percent of the year, and celery was available for an additional three weeks each year since it's growing season is slightly longer. Recipients enjoyed receiving romaine lettuce and their choice of either red or green leaf lettuce each delivery day though, throughout the summer months.
​
Although apples are available at a significantly reduced price year-round, they're only donated during their growing season throughout the fall.
And finally, squashes are usually only available for two months of the year. Although the shelf life of squashes is longer than that of lettuce, recipients enjoyed receiving squashes as frequently as possible. However, the squashes make deliveries particularly heavy. When we give carrots and onions, we give in two-pound quantities. Some squashes can weigh up to six pounds and offering even two squashes per household can become challenging for delivery drivers.
Fruits offered
Vegetables offered
Breads & bread variants offered
Bread Loaf Variants
Program recipients were eventually given 12 bread loaf variants to choose from:
Fresh Bread
With the exception of the Ozery Family Bakery mini pitas, all of the fresh breads delivered to recipients of the Fresh Food Weekly program came from Fox's Bakery & Deli in downtown Barrie.
​
Furthermore, all of Fox's bakery breads were delivered on the same day they were baked because we wanted our recipients to receive the freshest food possible. If we're going to order bread anyways, why not just order it for the same day it gets delivered?
​
Fresh Food Weekly's rule of thumb has always been to purchase foods using the same budget as the average annual income for working residents in the city. Simply put, the foods we give are the exact same foods you'd give yourself, assuming you have an average income.
​
That being said, we know the average person doesn't only buy 'same-day baked bread'. However, it takes no extra effort or money to pickup bread in bulk on delivery days, so we might as well choose the fresher option because it's the more thoughtful thing to do.
​
Here's a list of all our freshly baked bread items, both the on-going variant offerings as well as the one-time specialty/seasonal offerings that were delivered in meal boxes:
Meats
How much did Fresh Food Weekly spend on meats?
Total Cost: $23,472.18
​
Total Value: $69,274.70
45% of the total meat value represents the portion of meats paid for.
Beginning in January 2023, Fresh Food Weekly started receiving weekly donations of various frozen meats donated by Nick's No Frills. Shortly after, Goodness Me! Natural Food Market started donated frozen meats as well. One of the really great ways local grocery stores supported Fresh Food Weekly was by freezing their meats the day before the expiry date.
Baked dessert offerings
The majority of desserts Fresh Food Weekly offered were completely donated. We always made sure that program recipients were able to get some desserts included in all of the holiday meal boxes.
Non-perishable item offerings
Fresh Food Weekly offered various non-perishable items that either complimented the other items in the meal box, or were required for the specific recipe included in that delivery's meal box.
Fresh Food Weekly started including a six-pack of Costco toilet paper in monthly meal boxes right from the beginning.
​
In 2023 when we started doing biweekly deliveries, we continued to deliver toilet paper on a monthly basis.
Toilet paper
