Food Security: Food Programs

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2.1: End hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round.

Food Programs

An Empowering Approach

Lived Experience

Food Programs

People are food insecure because they lack the money to buy food. Especially vulnerable are households that rent their accommodations, those that are led by female single parents, single adults, those living with disabilities, racialized and immigrant households. (Community Food Centres Canada. Beyond Hunger: the hidden impacts of food insecurity)

Food Bank – Picton United Church Food Bank
Delivery Service available
12 Chapel St. Picton
613-476-8516
Friday 9:00am – 11:30am
pictonunitedchurch.ca/pages/picton-food-bank

Food Bank – Wellington & District Storehouse Foodbank
Wellington Pentecostal Church
Delivery Service Available
Free hot meals delivered for seniors in Wellington, Consecon, Hillier
304 Niles Street Wellington
613-921-0991
wellingtonfoodbank.org
Wednesday – 1pm to 3pm or by appointment on other days

Food Bank – The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army Church
46 Elizabeth St. Picton
613-476-3159
Tues. – Thurs. 9:00am to 12:00pm
southeasthealthline.ca/displayservice.aspx?id=151807

Community Pantry – PEC Public Library, Picton Branch

208 Main St., Picton

(613) 476-5962

NOTE: The County Food Depot operated during COVID-19 shutdowns, from April 17, 2020 to June 25, 2021 (63 weeks), as a temporary outlet to provide supplementary food during the pandemic. The Food Depot was organized by The Food Collective and ran entirely with volunteers who contributed an estimated 2900 hours of their time to distribute 2,937 hampers of food to County residents.

PEC Fresh

PEC Fresh Good Food Market is a community market helping people across the County stretch their grocery dollars and access affordable fresh fruits and vegetables year-round. There are three community market locations, in Picton, Sophiasburgh and Consecon.

Contact Prince Edward Learning Centre
97 Main St. Unit 10, Picton (Sobeys Plaza)
https://www.facebook.com/pecfresh/
613-476-1811

Good Food Box

The Hub – Child & Family Centre is a depot, #5 McFarland Dr. Picton

613-476-3952 or cell: 613-503-2179
cdcquinte.com/good-food-box

Order an all veggie bag and/or an all fruit bag for affordable prices, cash only.

For Seniors

Meals on Wheels – hot & frozen meals
Prince Edward Community Care for Seniors
www.communitycareforseniors.org
74 A King St. Picton
613-476-7493 info@communitycareforseniors.org

Delivery to your door up to 5 days / week anywhere in Prince Edward County. A hot nutritious noon-time meal means daily contact with a volunteer to help seniors stay safe and well in their home. Prince Edward Community Care offers both hot and frozen meal to seniors 60+, clients of Hospice Prince Edward or the Alzheimer Society of Prince Edward County who are referred directly by either agency. Client fees are kept low and can be reduced or waived in special circumstances.

Seniors 60+ – Free pick up & delivery of groceries
Prince Edward Community Care offers free pick up & delivery of groceries, medicines, library books and other essentials. This free delivery program is available to all seniors 60+. Seniors who need help to place a grocery order by email or online can also call Prince Edward Community Care for this free service. Deliveries from the PEC Fresh Food Market are also made to seniors. To make arrangements call The Prince Edward County Community Care for Seniors Association at 613-476-7493.

Free hot meals delivered for seniors in Wellington, Consecon, Hillier
provided through Wellington StoreHouse Foodbank
613-849-7403 (Linda) or 613 827-8881 (Cynthia)
wellingtonfoodbank.org

For Youth, Children & Babies

theROC Youth Services
299 Main St. Picton
613-476-1462 (Youth Centre)
theroc.ca

Lunches during the school year for youth in grades 9-12. Frozen meals are also available to take home. There is no cost to participants.

Food for Learning, Student Emergency Fund & Food for Home
Hastings and Prince Edward Learning Foundation
www.hpefoodforlearning.ca
Students need to connect with their teacher or principal to access the following programs

Food for Learning – ensures that all students have daily access to healthy nutritious food while at school.

Student Emergency Fund – gives immediate assistance to students, and perhaps their families, by providing financial aid and/or gift-in-kind support.
This funding could be used to purchase items such as eyeglasses, EpiPens, medical supplies, food and clothing, transportation, to subsidize field trips, or to assist with additional financial needs that result from family crises (fire, flood, layoffs, illness, etc).
Food for Home – provides support for food during non-school times during the school year ie. December & March Break)

Since the onset of Covid, schools are seeing more students coming with no or very little lunch. In 2021, the Learning Foundation expanded the Food for Home program and now offers Nutrition Pantries in 5 schools with PECI being the newest starting in January 2022. The Nutrition Pantry provides a supply of nutritious food items that students can access at school and take home to prepare while allowing them the make selections based on dietary needs.

Donations are always appreciated to ensure that the Nutrition Pantries can continue next school year and perhaps even expand to other schools. As well, grocery gift cards in the hands of Principals are an effective way to provide support. They are very connected to students and families and can get the cards quickly into the hands of those who need them.

Good Baby Box

The Hub – Child & Family Centre is a depot, #5 McFarland Dr. Picton

613-476-3952 or cell: 613-503-2179
cdcquinte.com/good-food-box

A weekly program that helps you stretch your baby food budget and is available throughout Hastings & Prince Edward County. Available items for pick up include formula, diapers, wipes, and specialty items.

Community Gardens

Picton Community Gardens
Located at Picton’s Delhi Park. We grow food for our families, the food banks & community groups.

facebook.com/PictonCommunityGarden

Wellington Community Gardens
You and we grow together, food for family, friends and the community. Join us in growing our own food.

Community Gardeners of Prince Edward County
facebook.com/groups/207586142928769

Community Meals

Check for events at the Community Calendar at 99.3 County FM

St. Andrew’s Anglican Church

244 Main St., Wellington

613-399-1774

Soup’s On lunch program, Community Suppers

Food to Share

Freshly prepared and healthy meals are distributed to the Storehouse Foodbank in Wellington, The Picton United Church County Food Bank, Kate’s Rest, the Picton Salvation Army Food Bank, the ROC Youth Services and PECI.
https://www.facebook.com/p/Food-to-share-100068039151518/

County Food Hub

County Food Hub is a leading-edge certified commercial “sharing” kitchen, providing chefs, caterers, home cooks, food product developers with industry-best equipment, space, time and storage to serve their diverse needs.

Born out of the availability of excess space of an elementary school scheduled for closure, County Food Hub is an exemplar of how to ensure a stronger commitment to rural education while supporting the needs of a vital culinary industry and developing a broader commitment to sustainable healthy food development and education.
406 County Rd 15 (Sophiasburgh School)
Prince Edward County
www.countyfoodhub.com

An Empowering Approach

An Empowering Approach to Food Security

Interview

Interview - Lived Experience

An interview with Linda Downey, Past President of the Wellington & District Storehouse Foodbank, highlights changes in food security needs since the onset of the pandemic, challenges of food supply chains, the generous community support that enables them to help the most vulnerable in our community, and about the stigma associated with food banks. Linda encourages anyone who needs food to please reach out. Anyone can be vulnerable at any time.

The County Food Collective is working toward an innovative, empowering approach to food security (based on feedback from those affected by food insecurity, front-line workers, and research projects). The goals are:

Central co-ordination: to make the best use of limited resources; to ensure equitable access throughout the County; to work toward stable funding.
To connect people with resources: such as affordable housing, benefits screening, skill upgrades, group cooking sessions, community gardens ...
To be accessible: located in welcoming and accessible environments; centres would be open more often; offer home delivery options; have satellite food depots/fresh market truck.
To empower clients: create opportunities for clients to give back, to be part of the solution to food insecurity; distribute grocery cards so people can buy what they actually need.
To reduce stigma: improve the experience; anyone could be vulnerable at any time but stigma is a barrier to accessing food banks.

Lived Experience

Interview - Lived Experience

Anyone can experience vulnerability at any time. Linda Downey, Past President of the Wellington & District Storehouse Foodbank, is committed to giving back to the community as a way to repay the kindness she received during a time of need. In this interview, she discusses the evolving food security needs since the pandemic began, the challenges in food supply chains, the generous community support that helps them assist the most vulnerable, and the stigma surrounding food bank use. Linda encourages anyone in need of food to reach out for support.