Daily Table

Ok. My most recent charity donation was to Daily Table in Dorchester and I decided it was worth making a post about them. (Maybe I'll post about the other organizations too?) At any rate, you can read a recent article about Daily Table here called "Waste Not, Want Not: Combating Food Insecurity in Boston" by Nolan Gawron.

Picture of the Daily Table storefront.

Let me just say - I absolutely LOVE their model of combatting food insecurity.

Food pantries and soup kitchens are a godsend and I'm so glad they exist. I have used them in the past and so have many of my friends, some of whom are on food assistance currently. That said, these places can feel humiliating or embarrassing to visit. Grocery stores can often be really expensive if you're looking for healthier options like produce. And although many farmer's markets now take EBT and some offer discounts for it (huzzah!) they can still be a bit pricey. This is a huge reason why many poor people wind up eating crappy fast food so often - it's fast, cheap, filling, and not stigmatizing.

So what are you supposed to do if you're broke, possibly on food assistance, and struggling to afford healthy food within your budget? It's a problem faced by about 14.5% of US households. It's also exactly the problem that Daily Table is trying to address.

Inside of Daily Table.

They offer groceries that are priced to compete with fast food, in a store environment that is dignified rather than embarrassing for shoppers. The Daily Table sources their groceries by "recovering" food from supermarkets, growers, and food distributors who have a surplus that was going to go to waste. As a country, the US wastes about 40% of the food we produce so food waste is a huge problem that's also tragic when we've got so many people who are hungry. So basically Daily Table is solving both hunger AND food waste all in one go! It's a model for solving food insecurity while preserving people's dignity and it is economically sustainable and good for the planet since it's recovering otherwise wasted resources and putting them to good use. How awesome is that?!

Flow chart showing where Daily Table sources its food. 

And as an aside: I have friends who are low income and who have gone to Daily Table to buy groceries. If you follow my lead and decide to support them, you'll be helping my friends afford to eat.