Mobile Food Market is Evolving

Introducing: Community Market

Since 2021, Mobile Food Market (MFM) has been committed to addressing food deserts across Brock Township by bringing good, affordable food closer to you.

A food desert is a geographic location in which residents have limited access to fresh, affordable, and nutritious foods that meet their dietary needs.

More Than a Market

Beginning September 1, Mobile Food Market will become the Community Market.

The new name reflects what the program has grown into: a mobile extension of The Nourish and Develop Foundation (TNDF) that brings together food access, food literacy, community connection, and support.

Community Market is more than a place to shop. It’s a place to connect with neighbours, deepen food knowledge, discover other local programs and services, and strengthen our community through food.

What's Changing

Mobile Food Market will be renamed Community Market
Community Market will operate from three permanent, weekly locations

Tuesdays

16 York Street, Cannington

3:30 PM - 5:30 PM

Wednesdays

36 Church Street S, Sunderland

11:30 AM - 1:30 PM

Thursdays

75 9 Mile Road

11:30 AM - 1:30 PM

Prepared meals will now be offered at a flat rate of $5 each
Market hours will expand from one hour to two hours at each location
TNDF programs, services, resources, and community partners will be more intentionally integrated into the market experience

By spending more consistent time in our 3 largest communities, we’ll be able to build stronger relationships, create more opportunities for food education and connection, and better integrate other TNDF programs and services into the market experience.

What Isn't Changing

Many of the things you value most about the Mobile Food Market will remain exactly the same at Community Market:

Fresh, affordable food
Local-first sourcing whenever possible
Prepared meals, preserves, and other TNDF food products made with care
Market Bucks
A welcoming space for everyone
Our commitment to food access

As always, every purchase supports the work of The Nourish and Develop Foundation and is reinvested into programs that strengthen our community.

Why We're Making this Change

What began as a response to COVID-19 and concerns about local food deserts has evolved alongside our community, but one thing has always stayed the same: our commitment to making good food accessible to everyone.

Over the years, we’ve learned a great deal about the barriers people face in accessing food—and about the important role this program plays beyond what’s on the shelves.

After wrapping up our Mobile Food Market customer survey, we reflected on the program as a whole and asked ourselves an important question:

How can we create the greatest impact with the resources available to us?

The reality is that Mobile Food Market’s existing service model is no longer financially sustainable. Rising food costs, transportation expenses, vehicle maintenance, staffing requirements, and operating costs make it increasingly difficult to continue running the program in its current form.

However, this wasn’t simply a financial decision.

We realized that the Mobile Food Market was doing something we hadn’t fully anticipated: it was creating opportunities for connection.

If you ask many of our customers why they visit the market, they’ll mention the produce and prepared meals—but they’ll talk more about the conversations, familiar faces, and sense of belonging they experience each shop.

It became clear that the market had become more than a food access program. It had become a community gathering place.

Thank You

We’ve come a long way since our very first Mobile Food Market stop on August 18, 2021…

We are incredibly proud of everything Mobile Food Market has accomplished over the past five years and deeply grateful to every customer, volunteer, donor, partner, and supporter who helped shape it along the way.