Program makes Thanksgiving Dinner More Affordable for South Minneapolis Community Members
A local food program created to make fresh fruits and vegetables more affordable to Twin Cities families will be selling Holiday Packs for $30 at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church on November 13, 2013. Each Holiday Pack includes an 8-10 pound turkey, a whole chicken, a pork tenderloin, corn, cranberries, bread, pumpkin pie and one additional meat item.
Fare for All Express, established in 2007 by Emergency Foodshelf Network, purchases fresh fruits, vegetables and frozen meats in bulk and passes on the savings to anyone who wants to stretch their food budget. Participants in the program save up to 40 percent on their food purchases.
“Many families have been forced to cut back on fresh produce and lean meats because of ever-shrinking food budgets. Fare For All is designed to help make affordable, healthy foods available to those families—especially during the Holiday season,” said Sophia Lenarz-Coy, the program manager for Fare For All.
In 2007, Fare For All Express launched, serving approximately 5,000 households at nine locations in the Twin Cities. By 2013, it had grown to 24 locations and sold food packages to more than 37,000 households.
The program is designed to supplement people’s grocery store purchases, providing them with produce and meat items that they might not otherwise be able to afford. The end result is that households who utilize the program have access to and consume more nutritious staples.
Lenarz-Coy said that the 700 percent growth in the program since its inception demonstrates the need many Minnesotans have for affordable nutritious food. Because Fare For All buys food in bulk, the program is open to anyone. As more people participate, the program can provide even better deals.
A recent annual customer survey demonstrated the need for the program. One participant wrote, “Sometimes it makes all the difference in whether I have a balanced diet or if I’m living on rice.”
Lenarz-Coy said that she believes that demand for the program will remain high. “Even as the economy begins to improve, many Twin Cities residents have become more budget conscious and are continuing look for ways to make their food budgets stretch,” she said.
The next distribution at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 2730 East 31st Street, Minneapolis, will be Wednesday, November 13, from 4:00-6:00 pm. For additional dates and a map of Fare For All Express locations, go to: http://www.fareforall.org/Express/DistributionDatesandLocations.aspx
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