Chestermere’s Community Services have been helping residents make healthy meals on a budget with the Good Food Box program.
“It’s really a good program,” said City of Chestermere Community Resource Worker Paulette Tippe.
The program offers boxes of seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables ranging in price from 25 dollars for a 20 to 25-pound box to 35 dollars for a 40 to 45-pound box.
The program was first brought to Chestermere in 2015 by Chestermere’s Community services as part of their mandate to assist residents in any way they can.
“The Good Food Box was a perfect fit,” said Tippe.
Since it started, the program has exploded in popularity. Last year, 190 total boxes were ordered through the program in Chestermere.
While Tippe wasn’t working in Community Services when the Good Food Box program came to Chestermere, she has been the coordinator for it for the majority of the last two years.
“The Good Food Box, for me, the value is the cost,” she said.
Tippe said she has compared the cost of a medium box with what it would cost in store. She’s also heard from a resident who compared item by item what a large box would cost in a grocery store.
“It was over double the price them to purchase, if they were to take every item and purchase it at the grocery store,” she said.
“So, it’s a huge value,” said Tippe of the program.
The Good Food Box program in Chestermere is open to all residents in the city and southeast Rocky View County.
The program delivers the boxes to city hall to be picked up by residents monthly except in the summer.
To order a Good Food Box, residents have to go into city hall and pay cash for their box.
The order and delivery schedule is available online at www.chestermere.ca/330/Food-Resources.
