Halifax nonprofit groups work to end food insecurity through affordable market

A new fresh food market aims to give struggling families healthy options.

Food insecurity is a growing problem in Halifax and nonprofits like Square Roots Fairview/Clayton Park see this firsthand.

“It’s massive, there are reports coming out all the time. Just about 10 days ago there was another report that came out about child poverty. Although that was 2023 numbers, it has increased again. We are just seeing people who would not have seen themselves using a service like this,” says Reeta Singh, Square Roots Fairview/Clayton Park community manager.

To address the growing need for food, the Salvation Army has partnered with Square Roots Fairview/Clayton Park with a market where families can get their food essentials.

“Our customers always get potatoes, onions, carrots, sweet potatoes, cabbage, apples, beets, whatever the valley is producing and then we get some seasonal stuff,” says Singh.

It’s a biweekly market at 50 Gesner St., which is the Salvation Army Halifax West Community Church. They have been using the space for free since 2019.

“It’s making sure that people’s physical needs are met. The Salvation Army does a lot of social work, social mission work where we want to make sure people are fed, clothed, and housed. This meets one aspect of that from the food side,” says Wendy Woodland, public affairs officer with the Salvation Army Maritimes.

Every other Friday, volunteers with Square Roots Fairview/Clayton Park unload trucks full of fresh fruits and vegetables for their Saturday market.

“What Square Roots does is we buy produce from local farmers from the valley that they can’t sell in the big box stores because they are seconds, too small, too big, too nobly or surplus and then they purchase it at a very good price, and then we sell it for a good price, ” says Singh.

This idea of Square Roots came from a Saint Mary’s University Master’s Degree project to develop a sustainable model. It has since expanded and has more than 20 different locations across the Halifax Regional Municipality.

“Food insecurity has really changed so much. You used to see the vulnerable, the people in need, those who were really trying to stretch the money they had,” Woodland says. “Or maybe even those that were not working and were technically, in a lot of ways, food bank clients.

“Everybody is trying to make sure they are being good stewards of every dollar that they have and people are really into supporting locals. The notion of being able to get good food that’s locally sourced and enabled you to stretch your dollar has become very important.”

The goal is to not only provide families who are struggling with the ability to purchase fresh food but also with dignity. The model is one dollar for one pound.

They have a partnership with Cobbs where their team donates their surplus loaves to this non-profit and these are given out to the Square Roots customers free of charge.

“Our customers will get a 10-pound bundle of produce, a loaf of bread and six eggs and for the 6 eggs we will ask them for a minimum donation of a dollar. For $11 you have a nice little bundle there which is enough for two people. The bigger the family, the more bundles they have,” says Singh.

The need for their services continues to grow, and so do the services this team offers, from their soup kits to their new egg program.

“When we first took over it was your typical blue-collar family but now we are seeing white-collar families, white-collar individuals. We are all feeling the pinch,” says Singh.

Some of their newer projects wouldn’t be possible without the Fraser fund they started in memory of Fraser Lake who volunteered with the team.

Fraser Lake tragically died in a motorcycle accident in September at the age of 16. The community managers wanted to put the funds into a special project in his honour.

“His family very kindly asked supporters to give donations to us in lieu of flowers. So, we raised a fair bit of money, and we did not want that to be absorbed through the normal operation of Square Roots. We wanted to do special stuff with it. One of the first things we did was we made soup kits to give out to our customers,” says Singh.

They make tubes of dry ingredients for people to add to a soup or a stew. This sparked their idea of not just giving people ingredients but giving them a meal.

All this work requires a lot of help from volunteers. They currently have 200 on their email inbox but only 30 consistent helping hands.

Whether it’s through volunteering or paying it forward in person or with online funds, they encourage others to jump on board.

“It’s for anybody, it’s for everybody. We need the people who are maybe able to pay it forward, to help us with those people who may be struggling that week. That’s the only way we can balance it for those that need it for free or a lower cost that week,” says Singh.

Just this weekend alone, they have 110 bundles already signed up for. Anyone can order online or drop in from 10 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. every other Saturday.

Following the March 7 market, the next is March 21.

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