Toronto’s Mobile Market

Toronto’s Mobile Good Food Market. Photo by Laura Berman via My Modern Met

The Mobile Good Food Market is taking healthy food on the road and providing affordable and nutritious food options in communities that live in food deserts – neighborhoods with little local access to healthy food options.

The bus was the brainchild of FoodShare Toronto which is an organization who works with neighborhoods and schools to provide healthy food options and education. They operate under the notion that “everyone deserves access to affordable high-quality fresh food”.

The bus was designed by LGA Architectural Partners and commissioned by FoodShare Toronto. The wheelchair accessible bus can be boarded to check out the goods and can also protect patrons in inclement weather.

Toronto’s Mobile Good Food Market. Photo by Laura Berman via My Modern Met

Currently, the bus travels to neighborhoods only two days a week but FoodShare Toronto is hoping to find funding to expand service and provide more opportunities for residents to take advantage of healthy, fresh foods.

This program reminds me of Boston’s City Hall To Go truck which brings city hall services right to your front door. The mobile office travels to different neighborhoods and allows constituents to renew a residential parking permit, get something notarized, request a copy of a birth certificate and more. This service provides easy access to documents and services that may be difficult to obtain because of personal mobility, distance or other issues. It’s exciting to think about what others ways our cities, towns or even rural communities could be transformed through other kinds of mobile services.