Working at the Ground Level in the Retail Sector
2022 was a big year for Food First NL’s work at the ground level of the retail sector. We launched two new food retail projects. The first, Food on the Move, is an affordable grocery store that pops up in neighbourhoods around St. John’s. The second, Great Things in Store, works with retail partners around the province on projects to improve food access. Meanwhile, we had a productive year of planning for the Western NL Food Hub and are excited to relaunch the initiative in 2023!
Food on the Move
Food on the Move is a pop-up shop that brings affordable grocery options to neighbourhoods throughout St. John’s. During the St. John’s Food Assessment, we heard that grocery stores were challenging to get to, too expensive, unwelcoming, or didn’t carry options that people were excited about. Food on the Move creates an accessible and welcoming space for food.
In 2022, we focused on laying the groundwork to establish Food on the Move in different neighbourhoods. Strong partnerships in these neighbourhoods is one of the project’s biggest strengths. Moving into 2023, we’re in good shape to build on Food on the Move and try out new pop-up locations and services.
Food on the Move Coordinator, Sarah Crocker, speaking with a customer during one of our fall pop-ups.
2022 Project Highlights
Launching the project at MacMorran Community Centre in October
Supporting Holy Heart of Mary High School at their Farm to Cafeteria launch and serving up over 200 tacos
Completing 19 pop-up shops from October through December
“A big thanks to everyone who’s offered to volunteer or contribute resources — often in unexpected ways and places. A great example is when I was picking up a Food on the Move vegetable order at Murray’s Garden and was offered the opportunity to glean some extra jalapenos from their greenhouse. These jalapenos were then pickled by nutrition students at Holy Heart of Mary High School and used in their salad bar launch!”
Les Perry, Regional Food Animator at Food First NL, giving hands-on instruction on making beeswax food wraps for Food on the Move.
The Shoulders We Stand On
We’re thankful for the Community Centre Alliance, who connected us with such great hosts
Everyone at each of our Community Centre hosts: Buckmaster’s Circle, Froude Avenue, MacMorran, Rabbittown, and Virginia Park
NL Public Libraries and the staff of Library on the Go, who join us at each location
We are so grateful to Holy Heart of Mary High School for kitchen space and for being our home base! We’d like to acknowledge Becky Winsor, in particular, for all of her work.
Learn More
CBC News video segment on Holy Heart of Mary High School’s salad bar launch, which was supported by Food on the Move.
CBC St. John’s Morning Show’s documentary about Food on the Move pop-ups at Buckmaster’s Circle.
Great Things in Store
Great Things in Store: Retail Partnerships For Better Food Access is a project that aims to identify and pilot creative ways to improve food access in retail spaces, especially for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians from households with low income. Over the next two years, Food First NL staff will support a cohort of retailers in communities across N.L. through a process of engaging with their communities and trying out projects.
2022 was a busy year for Great Things in Store. The project kicked off in late winter and staff immediately began working on a number of different pieces with support from the Guidance Committee. Over the course of the year, they set the foundations and completed a lot of the groundwork for the project (see Project Milestones below). The stage is now set to begin hands-on work with the retail partners and their communities in early 2023.
Joshua Smee, Food First NL CEO, speaks at the launch of Great Things In Store.
2022 Project Milestones
Developing our Guidance Committee, filled with experts from a variety of sectors
Beginning work with a developmental evaluator and creating a Theory of Change
Recruiting, selecting, and completing orientation with eight retail partners
Beginning to create regional/community snapshots for each of our retail partners
“During the recruitment process, I spoke with almost all of the 35 applicants. They are very smart, genuine, hard-working retailers. I do not have the right word for them but they could be described as salt-of-the-earth people — your regular Newfoundlander and Labradorian people. It was very hard to just pick 8. I am really excited to start the more hands-on work with them and truly hope it benefits everyone in the province.”
The Shoulders We Stand On
Everyone who worked on the Healthy Corner Stores project, which sparked interest in the many opportunities of working with retailers
Our Guidance Committee members, whose expertise and knowledge are so important to the project
Our phenomenal retail partners, who are doing so much work to learn, grow, and bring new ideas to the project
Learn More
Carla Saunders speaks with CBC Newfoundland Morning about retailer recruitment.
Profiles featuring each of the eight retail partners.
Western NL Food Hub
We took 2022 to reflect on the lessons learned from our pilot season in 2021 and to chart a course forward for the Western NL Food Hub.
Over the past year, we heard from our customers, producers, and partners about how the Food Hub benefited them. It’s clear that this is a model that works here in the province.
Now we’re ready to relaunch the Food Hub in 2023 with support from the Northpine Foundation. We’re going to scale up our operations and expand our reach into more neighbourhoods and communities across the region. Our aim is to improve local food access for all while providing an important service for producers and customers.
Squash sold at the Western Food Hub during its pilot year.