Poorer families in Wellington County will no longer be receiving fresh fruits and vegetables through a local Garden Fresh Box program as of Dec. 31.
County council was unanimous in supporting the recommendation by its social services committee on Nov. 24 to drop the program for county residents.
Director of child care services Louisa Della Croce told the committee in her report at its meeting Nov. 9 the program is currently receiving $30,000 a year in annual grant funding and that discretionary service is 100 per cent funded by tax dollars. Guelph pays $27,000 and the county was paying $3,000 for the program.
She explained “Garden Fresh Box is a non-profit community based fresh fruit and vegetable distribution system operated by the Guelph Community Health Centre. The focus of service participants is on, but not limited to, those with barriers to accessing nutritious affordable food.
Della Croce explained the program’s goal is to:
– increase access to high quality, nutritious reasonably priced fresh food for people in Wellington County and Guelph;
– promote healthy eating habits in line with the Canada Food Guide;
– build neighbourhood capacity through the use of volunteers;
– help low income families stretch their food budget; and
– support the local agricultural economy.
From April to June 2011, statistics showed that out of 731 boxes distributed, 670 went to city residents and 61 went to county people – an average of 20 boxes a month. There were 15 pick-up locations in Guelph, and one in Centre Wellington.
Staff reviewed the program in February, and again in August, and that some of the reporting requirements were not being met. The mid-year August report remained incomplete of all the requirements that had been cited as being absent in February, with the exception of statistics about the number of users in Guelph and Wellington.
Some of the information that was not provided included:
– procedures and statistics to demonstrate service to low income families;
– needs assessments to identify service gaps for fresh produce availability;
– service delivery in the county beyond Centre Wellington; and
– evaluation of the program’s service objectives.
Further, Della Croce pointed out that the Centre Wellington Food Bank has a program that services 290 clients per month and provides on average eight fruits and vegetables on a daily basis. She said that produce is mainly donated by local farmers, businesses and community partners, and produce is also received by a donated farmers’ share at the Mapleton Organic Farm.
She also pointed out Wellington County has also provided the Centre Wellington Food Bank funding for the past three years through its community grants program, which is used to support gaps in food donations. That amounts to $2,000 a year.
She said social services staff recommended ending the county part of the program due to the “inequity of service provided to a significant number of eligible low income families which is supported by the county’s community grants program.”
She said staff recommended the Garden Fresh Box program in Guelph be placed on a six months notice period for 2012 funding (January to June) with the possibility of extension, subject to all reporting requirements being met
