Accessing food relief can be difficult in rural areas for those without a vehicle or access to public transportation.
As part of a pilot project initiated by the La Bouffe Additionnelle food pantry, residents of Dundee and Saint-Anicet can now receive their food baskets delivered to their municipality for free.
Deliveries to the Dundee town hall started on February 10 and will continue on every second Monday of the month. Food baskets will also be delivered to the Cazaville community centre in Saint-Anicet on the first and fourth Mondays of the month.
La Bouffe Addittionnelle director Sylvie Racette explains that both Cazaville and the municipality of Dundee and are food deserts, with little to no access to public transit. She says the food pantry worked with the Huntingdon CLSC to determine which communities would most benefit from improved food security services.
Funding for the pilot project, which included the purchase of a new refrigerated truck, was provided in part by the MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent through the Fonds Régions et Ruralité (FRR) – volet 4: soutien à la vitalisation et à la coopération intermunicipale program, in partnership with the Ministère des Affaires Municipales et de l’Habitation.
The MRC contributed $73,514 towards the purchase of the new truck and the pilot project, which Racette says could eventually be extended to the municipalities of Havelock and Hinchinbrooke if successful.
Dundee’s mayor, Linda Gagnon, says citizens currently travel more than 30 kilometers each way for groceries. Over 51 per cent of Dundee residents are above the age of 60, and part of this population is low-income. “We know that as we age, getting around by car can become more dangerous and costly,” she explains, noting this service will allow citizens to have regular access to essential food relief while reducing their need to travel.
Gagnon says that while Dundee is not able to initiate large-scale economic or development initiatives, the municipality has made food security a priority. “It all started with community garden boxes, the presence of the farmers’ market, the availability of Complices Alimentaires products, and now the Bouffe Additionnelle project,” she says, noting a mobile meal service will also soon be available.
Dundee also benefited from a $100,000 grant from the MRC and the same FRR program to develop an automated convenience store for residents. “When you are small, you can achieve great things at your own level,” says Gagnon.
More than a delivery service
Racette says the municipalities of Dundee and Saint-Anicet were also selected as part of an effort to minimize transport expenses. La Bouffe Additionnelle employees already collect food contributions from the Marché Tradition in Saint-Anicet and the Harnois service station and corner store in Cazaville, so it made sense to coordinate deliveries with these routes. “For the first year, it will allow us to save a little,” explains Racette.
La Bouffe Additionnelle will also be partnering with different community organizations to provide additional services, workshops, and information sessions for basket clients. For example, the Huntingdon-based Association pour la Défense des Droits Sociaux (ADDS) will join La Bouffe Additionnelle to collect tax information from residents interested in benefitting from their annual tax clinic. Another workshop will focus on small-scale gardening.
For more information on the pilot project contact La Bouffe Additionnelle at 450-264-2241.