FRESHFARM and Lyft Deliver Fresh Produce to Local DC Families in Need
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The FRESHFARM team packs deliveries of fresh produce that will go to families in need in the DC area.
By Matt Yan, Edible DC
A partnership between Lyft and FRESHFARM, called Essential Deliveries, is helping to deliver 6,400 produce orders, including fresh fruits and vegetables, to families in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Essential Deliveries builds off FRESHFARM’s existing Pop-Up Food Hub program, which has helped to triple the organization’s food distribution system, providing more equitable access to local food products while generating new income for local producers.
“The majority of our distribution through the FRESHFARM Pop-Up Food Hub is actually focused in the most vulnerable communities in DC.”
Dalila Boclin, FRESHFARM’s director of programs, says that with this program, markets serve as a point of aggregation and distribution to move large volumes of fresh food and produce to surrounding communities. With markets in six of DC’s eight wards, oftentimes Boclin says, “The majority of our distribution through the FRESHFARM Pop-Up Food Hub is actually focused in the most vulnerable communities in DC.”
With the onset of COVID-19, FRESHFARM shifted this hub model to direct-home delivery. After about three months of home deliveries, Lyft entered the partnership. They provided free deliveries and covered drivers’ delivery fees for 6,400 drop-offs. Since March, the Pop-Up Food Hub has collaborated with 24 partners, purchased from 14 local farms, and served 9,700 people.
Ultimately, this partnership with Lyft helps to expand FRESHFARM’s mission.
“Our mission is to support sustainable agriculture while building food access and equity in the Mid-Atlantic Region,” Boclin says. “We’re not selling second-rate food, and we’re not selling rejected products that came in from a port in the way a food rescue organization might be doing or even an organization like a food bank. We are actually connecting the highest quality food with the most vulnerable residents.”
