With baskets and shopping bags, Calgarians line up every Monday at Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association for their weekly grocery shopping with Fresh Routes Mobile Market.
Fresh Routes is a non-profit organization that aims to bring healthy and affordable food options to communities in Calgary. With a monthly schedule plan, the market stops by city neighbourhoods on a regular basis.
“We come almost every week,” said Jessica Nusse, a frequent customer of Fresh Routes. “It’s affordable produce, and it’s nice to have a discount for my family and to have access to some free food as well.”
After discovering the community mobile market, Nusse became a frequent visitor.
“We buy things that are on sale, and we shop at more affordable grocery stores to make it more affordable for our family,” she said.
Fresh Routes was established in 2018 in Edmonton as a pilot project by the Leftover Foundation. The organization offers 25 to 40 per cent cheaper products than a regular grocery store. The market is focused on supplying fruits and vegetables, as well as farm-fresh eggs and bread.
“There are a lot of organizations that provide food sources, but we saw a gap in healthy food access,” said Nikita Scringer, the CEO of Fresh Routes. “More and more people are experiencing food insecurity in our city.
“Fresh Routes, I believe, is filling a necessary gap.”
Since 2020, Canadian consumers have experienced a 23 per cent leap in food prices, amplifying food insecurity across the country. With the help of community partners, sponsors, and organizations who donate to the cause, Fresh Routes keeps costs of lower than regular grocery stores.
Food supplies are sourced from partners like H&W Produce and local growers outside the city.
“There are a lot of people struggling with inflation, food prices, and energy costs hiked up,” said Martin Robillard, an employee of Fresh Routes. “These are so many things you can add to someone’s monthly budget. Initiatives such as bringing discounted and donated food to them go a long way.
“There’s no target demographic, so everybody’s welcome to shop.”
Fresh Routes also partners with Hillhurst Sunnyside’s food sustainability program, which aims to distribute free food supplies to the community. The program carries items like bread, meat products and canned goods.
“We get our stuff from all over the place,” said Janet Sims, a volunteer. “The food is all donated by COB’s Bread and Safeway, which people can take for free. They can go to Fresh Routes and buy items if they need anything else.”
Customer Nicholas Totino expressed his support for both Fresh Routes and Hillhurst Sunnyside’s food sustainability program.
“Food is expensive, and you know nothing ever goes down,” said Totino. “Because I get around primarily by bike and on foot, I can stop to shop and save where you pay way less, and I don’t have to take the CTrain or the bus.”
Totino budgets his money by buying the items he can get from the mobile market and the remainder from the local grocery store.
“I usually wind up spending around $10 here, and then it means I can spend around $45 or $50 at Safeway,” Totino said. “It’s quite a bit less. If I did Safeway alone, it probably would be pushing $100 a week.”
In 2023, Fresh Routes made 561 market stops and served 500,000 fruits and vegetables.
Fresh Routes hopes to expand across Canada to reach more communities.
“I think it’s really important because it provides access to food for the community,” said Nusse. “And I hope it’s a resource more people can utilize because there’s always a lot of great food for free and discounted produce as well.”
