Meet the St. John’s group putting food on the move

It may be one of the top deals in St. John’s — for two dollars per serving, or three servings for five dollars, you can pick from an array of fruits and vegetables, some even locally grown.

That low price point allows shoppers to pick food items they may not normally try, according to Sarah Crocker, who runs the Food on the Move program for Food First N.L.

The best part: The food comes to you.

The Food on the Move program in St. John’s has now reached its third year of operation, bringing affordable produce around the city in the hopes of improving access.

“What we hear over and over again is that people do want to support local farmers,” Crocker said. “They're looking for things that are great value, and we've been able to bring those things together with this project.”

It’s more than just a market table: There’s recipes, books, musical instruments and movies, brought by the Newfoundland and Labrador Public Library, which teams up with Food First N.L. for many of the Food on the Move markets.

“It’s really important to us that this project is like a welcoming and social space for food,” Crocker said. “So much about buying groceries can be really alienating or uncomfortable for people.”

The project grew out of research into community needs, according to Crocker. Food First N.L. identified transportation as a major roadblock for many in St. John’s who want to access local food.

Crocker and her group do the heavy work themselves, buying from wholesalers and local farmers, and bringing the produce markets into lower-income areas of the city.

The market rotates between Memorial University’s University Centre building, and some community centres around St. John’s.

So far, organizers are finding success in their community-focused model.

“There’s always so many different stories,” said Emma Craig, the regional librarian responsible for St. John’s.

“We’ve had great ones where we have people who haven’t been to a library since they were a kid, and we signed them up for a library card.”

Newfoundland and Labrador doesn’t produce much of its own fruits and vegetables. In 2022, officials said, the province had just hit 21 per cent in what it called food self-sufficiency.

Crocker and her group are trying to increase that number. Last year, they held 55 markets and sold to almost 1,200 people.

“This project really does meet people where they’re at,” Crocker said. “I think we've been able to not just make food available at an affordable price, but its food that is good quality and fresh.”

“And that’s been a struggle, I think, for a lot of people in St. John’s.”

Since the markets began in 2022, food prices have only gone up — and that is putting some pressure on the organizers.

“The food pricing model that we came up with in 2022, it may be a challenge to see that carry forward in 2024,” Crocker said.

The group, however, is committed to the concept, and finding a number that is sustainable and affordable for customers.

“We do want our markets to be open and accessible to anyone. And right now we’re in a phase of growth and seeing where this project can take us into the future.