This holiday season, give the gift of choice.

Since 2020, The Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association has been partnering with Fresh Routes Mobile Grocery Store to give free grocery credits to low-income families, as part of HSCA’s Sustainable Food Programming. We want to continue our fight against hunger, but it will take more funding to ensure we can deliver this vital program through 2023. The Fresh Choices holiday fundraising campaign aims to provide an estimated 50 families with dignified access to food for an entire year. 

Rather than distributing pre-packaged bundles of non-perishable food items, Fresh Choices empowers families to make their own grocery choices and gives them access to what they need, when they need it. This means healthier, fresher options for families. 

Consider donating to the Fresh Choices campaign and give families the gift of choice! 
 
Program History:
Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association has run a free food access program for vulnerable neighbours since 2016. Over this time, we have come to understand more about our community members and about food insecurity. We have come to the same conclusion as a lot of organizations across the country: food charity is not working.  

Fresh Choices differs from traditional food charity in two key ways: efficiency and dignity. By operating in the community, we support families in accessing the food they need right in their community. The shift to offering a grocery credit vs pre-selected food has greatly increased our ability to serve our community with dignity and appropriate food choices. Just because some of us like eating mac n cheese (and can afford the milk and butter suggested in the recipe), doesn’t mean every family wants this and our new approach allows us to better meet the diverse needs of the community.  

Will you join us in changing the way our city approaches food security? Consider making a stand with us to create dignity and access for the community! 

Resources:

To learn more about food insecurity and why food charity needs to change, check out the following resources:

University of Toronto -  PROOF  - Well researched and easy-to-read infographics on a variety of topics surrounding food insecurity.

The impact of novel and traditional food bank approaches on food insecurity  - A peer-reviewed article courtesy of BMC Public Health

A survey of food bank operations in five Canadian cities  - A study evaluating the effectiveness of Canadian food banks for fighting food insecurity.

Help the poor: Stop donating canned goods to food banks - An opinion article highlighting the inefficiencies of food banks and the need for donating money instead of goods.
 
It's time to close Canada's food banks  - Opinion article on how food banks enable governments to ignore the real causes of hunger. 

The hunger-obesity paradox: Exploring food banking system characteristics and obesity inequities among food-insecure pantry clients  - Journal article emphasizing the nutritional inadequacy of food bank donations.