Healthy Food Policy
Purpose and Commitment
At The Depot, nutritious and delicious food fuels solidarity. We envision a thriving and connected community where nourishing food is accessible and realized as a basic human right. Providing healthy food goes beyond meeting physical needs. Food unites us. Meaningful connections happen over food and help us to build vibrant, healthy communities.
In Montreal, 1 in 5 people experience food insecurity and can’t regularly afford to put food on the table. The root causes of food insecurity are poverty and inequality. Low-income communities face numerous structural barriers that prevent them from accessing healthy food and are disproportionately affected by diet-related diseases. As an organization, we are committed to advocating alongside our partners for policies that address the structural barriers to food security.
Our food system, as it stands, exacerbates the challenges of food insecurity. Ultra-processed foods are aggressively marketed and readily available, while fresh, local produce remains expensive and less accessible. This inequity is compounded by the fact that farmers — who play an essential role in feeding our communities — are undervalued and underpaid for their work. At The Depot, we are committed to using our purchasing power to support local food producers and prioritize fresh, culturally relevant, and nutrient-dense foods in all of our programs. We acknowledge the vital role that nutrition plays in promoting overall health and well-being.
We are dedicated to challenging the status quo and committed to being a leader and active contributor to food justice work, locally in Montreal, across Quebec, and federally in Canada.
Implications for Purchasing and Distribution
Aware of the significant impact we have within the food system, we are committed to the continuous improvement of our food procurement and the ways we share food in our programs. This means that we deliberately consider the entire food system when sourcing food.
The Depot recognizes that a healthy diet varies across cultures and individuals. We prioritize sourcing foods that reflect a balanced diet guided by Canada’s Food Guide, and current best practices, while considering the diverse needs and preferences of our community.
This means increasing access to:
- Fresh fruits and vegetables that are locally sourced and sustainably grown in addition to affordable produce that is preferred by the diverse communities of NDG and may come from further away
- Nutrient-dense food staples that are minimally processed
Our Spending Priorities
- Fresh vegetables and fruit, sourced from local farmers and sustainably grown whenever possible*
- Whole grains, prioritizing Quebec-grown varieties when possible
- Lean proteins: eggs, beans and pulses, canned fish, raw nuts and seeds and all-natural nut butters
- Meat that is sustainably and ethically raised, purchased from Quebec farmers whenever possible
- Milk and unsweetened non-dairy milk
- Everyday staple and whole foods that support cooking culturally-specific dishes at home
Our Transformation
Our Healthy Food Policy has been a pivotal tool in transforming the way we provide emergency food access at The Depot Community Food Centre. Founded in 1986 as The NDG Food Depot, we have evolved significantly over the years.
Several initiatives laid the foundation for the Healthy Food Policy:
- Launch of free drop-in community meals (2014): We began offering free community meals during emergency food basket distribution times, allowing participants to enjoy healthy, seasonal recipes featuring foods from our baskets.
- Merger (2015): The merger of three pillar NDG community organizations — The Depot, Action Communiterre, and Boîte à Lunch — strengthened our collective focus on addressing food insecurity.
- Creation of a Fresh Food Fund (2015): We established a Fresh Food Fund, and significantly increased our budget for purchasing fresh fruit, vegetables, and whole foods (240% over 3 years).
- Cross-pollination of programs: Participants from the emergency food basket and community meal program were actively recruited to join our complementary food access and skill-building programs like community kitchens, collective gardens, and low-cost markets and vice versa.
- Participant-centered research (2017-18): We conducted focus groups with participants, volunteers, and staff to explore what healthy food means within our programs. Additionally, a McGill Master’s Nutrition research project focused on food access and the desire for more healthy food among emergency food basket participantsr.
In 2018
We adopted our Healthy Food Policy, marking a significant shift from distributing food twice a week from a church basement with a heavy reliance on donated items that often included a high percentage of transformed or processed foods.
Our first significant change was creating a mini storefront and ensuring that essential staple ingredients were always available to participants. They would meet a volunteer at the counter and choose their biweekly emergency groceries based on categories, selecting only the items they wanted. The positive impact of this shift became clear quickly, as participants could reliably count on consistently having access to the same staple ingredients.
Communication was an essential part of these shifts. We created documents to explain ‘’what’s in your basket’’ to participants, and did significant outreach to our in-kind donors, providing a list of priority items to donate that were part of our inventory. We began encouraging people to donate money over food, highlighting our purchasing power (for every dollar donated we could purchase three dollars worth of food), in addition to the heavy logistics required to manage food donations.
In 2019
The Depot’s Healthy Food Policy was honoured with the Coup de coeur des ministres award by the Quebec Health and Social Services Ministry, recognizing its outstanding contribution to Québec’s health and social services network.
In 2020
Due to the pandemic, all of our food programming was put on hold. Our emergency food services transitioned to a delivery model, providing participants with a monthly delivery that more than doubled in size. Initially, the pandemic saw our numbers skyrocket, and as income supports like the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) were introduced, our numbers leveled out to represent pre-pandemic demand. In addition, we stopped accepting food donations, which would become a permanent change.
In 2021
After further reflection and gaining access to more square footage for our program space, we once again pushed ourselves to enhance our offering and increase choice for our participants. In November, participants returned to onsite programming, and our emergency food services transitioned to a grocery-store-style setup with even more variety and choice of staple ingredients. Households now receive a monthly allocation of “Depot dollars” to spend, with part designated specifically for fresh fruits and vegetables and another portion reserved for dry staple goods.
In 2023
These changes have made a significant impact, even amidst unprecedented demand for our services. When participants visit The Depot for emergency food services, they know exactly what will be available to them, allowing them to plan their groceries with more confidence. In 2023 alone, we distributed over 730,000 lbs of food to community members experiencing food insecurity, with over a third of that being fresh fruits and vegetables. Participants’ feedback in our annual program survey, completed in November 2023, underscores the success of these efforts: 98% of Marché Depot participants stated that The Depot provides them with an important source of healthy food; 69% reported increased consumption of fruits and vegetables due to participating in The Depot’s programs.
