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Produce program packs price paring perks

Tomorrow is the order deadline for this month’s Good Food Box.
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This is the produce included in last month'€™s Good Food Box. The deadline to order a Good Food Box is the first Wednesday of the month, and pick up is the third Wednesday of the month. Contributed photo

Tomorrow is the order deadline for this month’s Good Food Box, which is exactly what it sounds like: a box full of food.

Georgian Good Food Box is a non-profit wholesale buying club featuring fresh and mostly local produce packed up by volunteers and ready for pick up once a month in Collingwood, Wasaga Beach and Stayner.

“The goal is to get healthy, affordable, nutritious food into the hands of people who can do something really great with it,” said Corrine Lalonde a volunteer with Good Food Box and member of the board of directors.

Good Food Box works with a local dietitian to come up with a box of produce that is versatile and healthy.

Every box includes potatoes, apples, onions and carrots as the staple items. Those are sourced locally year-round. The potatoes come from Alliston, the onions and carrots from Holland Marsh and the apples from Glen Huron. The rest of the items are seasonal, and sometimes have to be brought in from warmer climates. For example, the March box also included kale, cantaloupe, lettuce and broccoli.

The box is $15 (or $16 online) and can be ordered online or in person at various local depots (click here to find the location nearest you). According to Lalonde, the cost of buying the items in a Good Food Box at a grocery store is $10 to $15 higher than the cost of getting it through Good Food Box.

Orders for Good Food Box are due on the first Wednesday of every month. There is no obligation to order every month, ordering is done by the customer as needed. They are packed and picked up on the third Wednesday of every month. The non-profit is entirely volunteer run.

This winter, Georgian Good Food Box packed their 60,000th bag of produce. Typically they see about 400 to 650 orders per month.

In addition to selling Good Food Boxes, the group also donates some boxes to people in need.

“The more boxes we sell, the more we can donate,” said Lalonde.

In addition to more customers, Georgian Good Food Box is also looking for volunteers to help on packing days. Simply show up to a packing site (listed on the Good Food Box website) at 9 a.m. and they will put you to work.