Fresh Truck Team Grows With 3 New Hires

Blog / Fresh Truck Team Grows With 3 New Hires
From left to right: Karla Morales, Francelino Marime and Markiesha Duverneau pose in front of 77.
This spring we welcomed three new additions to the Fresh Truck team! From mobile market operations to development, we are excited for the talent and enthusiasm they will bring to help us carry out our mission.
We are excited to have you join the Fresh Truck family. What is your role at Fresh Truck and what are excited to take on as part of the team?

Francelino: Operations Manager. I’m excited to be a part of a great and growing organization that is dedicated to helping others and making a basic human right (food) available, specifically to those who are without access.

Markiesha: As the development manager, I’m excited for a variety of tasks, but what most captures this is being able to think, use creativity and bringing fresh ideas to the table. I’m also looking forward to learning how to tell our story to different groups of people, whether it’s through speaking, visuals or anything else that can capture the ideas and impact of Fresh Truck and Fresh Connect. The last thing, which isn’t related to my role, but should be, is designing Fresh Truck inspired clothing and gifts.

Karla: Market Manager. I’m just excited to connect with people. To learn from other individuals.

A huge part of what Fresh Truck does is focused on healthy food access. Why is food important to you?

Francelino: Food is life. It is an essential part of our lives and it gives us energy and nutrition to live.  

Markiesha: Similar to what Francelino mentioned, food is important to me because it’s one of the essential necessities of life. Without food in general, we would all be extinct. Without healthy food, we all would have medical issues that can be prevented. Food is also nice because it’s one of the few things I believe brings people together no matter who they are, where they come from or what they believe in.

Karla: Food has many layers to it. I find it amazing how our food choices affect our personal health, impact the planet, and define our existence. Have you ever noticed the “international” aisle in grocery stores? Another colonized commodity institutionally becoming a luxury for the financially satisfied to enjoy.

I’ve noticed how this institutionalization impacts the food choices of fellow boricuxs living in PR. Opting for boxed and frozen food items because that bunch of cilantro is $6 and those four apples are $7, when I can buy 2 boxes and 3 bags of frozen fruits/veggies for $10. Out in Guatemala, the only fresh produce available for fellow paisanxs are the produce deemed “not good enough” to ship to the U.S. Tell me, how these places so abundant in biodiversity, its civilians cannot enjoy the fruits from their own homelands? The United States seems to be keen on dividing and conquering not only its backyard, but also displacing individuals within its border.

In short, I am a huge advocate for food sovereignty. Let’s not rely on corporate food decisions. Support local farmers, purchase what’s in season, save the planet with those choices.

What’s your favorite food memory from your childhood?

Francelino: I remember my mom making this delicious meal called ‘cove’: it was a mix of collard greens, onions, tomatoes, coconut milk, and peanuts.

Markiesha: My family is really big: I have 5 siblings, parents, grandparents, a lot of aunts, uncles and cousins, so we always had huge family parties for special occasions and holidays. The table was always full of all different types of food because everyone cooked and brought the dish to the designated household that the event would be happening at. Being together in that setting was always fun and seeing how our roles changed as we get older is interesting. I now serve everyone at the parties and tend to eat last or if I’m lucky, I get the scraps, which isn’t always fun, but I don’t mind it and it ensures everyone eats and certain people are not taking everything and trying to take platters home (there’s always that one or two people that you have to hide the food from, :)).      

Karla: I loved making tortillas with my mom growing up. My favorite part was creating tortillas out of its ordinary, circular shape. I’d turn them into dogs, hearts, triangles… it’s something that I still like to do with tortillas today.

This wouldn’t be a Fresh Truck interview without a fun icebreaker. So… if you were any fruit or vegetable, what would you be and why?

Francelino: I would be a banana: I have a soft center and excellent people skills, but I also have thick skin and am not put off by setbacks. I grow and develop all year round.

Markiesha: Is that even a question? 🙂 Obviously, a pineapple: I have a very tough exterior, but I’m a sweet person, a ray of joyous sunshine and I tend to surprise a lot of people. Haha. Side note: I think I may be somewhat allergic to pineapples or maybe just the core because when I eat the core (or maybe just too many slices at once), my lip starts to sting. But no worries, I eat it in moderation and don’t have it often.

Karla: A honey mango, aka an ‘ataulfo’. In my opinion, I think that they are the most delicious mango in the family. Biting into its meat is a sensation no other mango can aspire to. Sweet and succulent.

 

Blog / Fresh Truck Team Grows With 3 New Hires

“Together We Grow” with athenahealth

Blog / “Together We Grow” with athenahealth

This summer and fall, Fresh Truck has been fortunate enough to partner with athenahealth to run “Together We Grow”, a series of pop-up events at 10 community health centers across Massachusetts, with a goal to help health centers provide patients with access to fresh food. At each event, athenahealth provides 100 shoppers with $10 each to shop for fruits and vegetables at Fresh Truck. In addition to sponsoring the produce, athenahealth has generously provided tote bags and a healthy chickpea salad recipe, with ingredients that shoppers can pick up on the truck.

The pop-ups have provided great volunteer opportunities for athenahealth employees. At each event, employees from across the athenahealth network help Fresh Truck staff distribute tote bags, restock shelves, and check shoppers out. They have even hosted a guacamole tasting for shoppers waiting in line.

By the time we complete the series of pop-ups, athenahealth and Fresh Truck will have provided nearly 1,000 shoppers with $10,000 of fresh fruits and vegetables. We’re so thankful for the hard work and enthusiasm of the entire athenahealth team to put this series of events together!

Interested in sponsoring programming with Fresh Truck? Contact Megan Huang, Program Manager, at megan@thefreshtruck.org.

Blog / “Together We Grow” with athenahealth

Meet Megan, our new Program Manager!

Blog / Meet Megan, our new Program Manager!
We are excited to have you join us as our seventh(!) full-time employee. What made you want to get involved with Fresh Truck?

I come from an academic background, so research studies are the way I became familiar with the barriers people face to eating healthy and accessing fresh food. As I was working with this information, I wished that I could provide resources and programs for them to tackle these challenges. I started volunteering with Fresh Truck a few months ago and loved what I learned about the shoppers, their cultures, and what they enjoy cooking and eating. The shopping experience at Fresh Truck is unique, and I was excited to help people connect with this valuable resource.

A big part of your role will be designing programs that celebrate food and food culture. What’s a significant memory you have of food?

Eating delicious sweet mangoes in Taiwan with my family. Growing up, my parents and grandparents loved feeding us, so mangoes and other fruits would magically appear in front of us.

What are you excited to bring to the Program Manager position?

I am excited to figure out new ways for the markets better serve our shoppers and provide a great shopping experience. I think it’s amazing that Fresh Truck has generated so much demand across the city, and I want to make sure the shopping experience is as enjoyable as possible for as many people as possible. A big part of my role will be creating strong partnerships with community organizations, bridging cultural gaps, and constantly tweaking our programs to make them better.

You know it’s coming. What’s your best food pun?

Didn’t that cereal expire last week?

Yes, but I shallot it anyway.

Blog / Meet Megan, our new Program Manager!

November Community Beet: Mo R.

Blog / November Community Beet: Mo R.

This month, we wanted to bring you to the South End Community Health Center which is one of our busiest weekly market locations. Our partnership with the health center nutritionists, clinicians, staff, and outreach workers has been critical to our success in the neighborhood. With the demand for FreshRx and the new Healthy Incentives Program, we’ve had to open an additional stop every Monday.

Monnique or ‘Mo’ as she likes to be called, has been a long-time advocate for Fresh Truck in the neighborhood. “Two years ago I was 260 lbs and now I’m down to 189. Since then, I’ve been eating right, and just decided to take my health a lot more seriously. I experienced a lot of pain and aching happening in my body, and when I started to lose weight the pain started going away. ” Since she started shopping with Fresh Truck, Mo has been incorporating fruits and vegetables into every meal she eats. Even during the holidays, Mo is finding ways of championing her new eating habits. “As long as I stay under 191 I live pain-free and am happy. I started developing muscle and working out too so that I wouldn’t get too skinny now!”

Mo is a community figure and big personality in South End. “My place is like a little landmark in the community. I turned my plot into a little sitting area, everyone who walks by knows me and my dog. I even bring my TV out here in the summer and chill with the neighborhood.” Mo has been living in the South End for decades and is a regular shopper on Fresh Truck, in addition, she is also an advocate and ambassador for her community. Whenever there is a new resource in the neighborhood, she is one of the first people to know about it and spread the word.

“The impact of Fresh Truck on the community has been positive across the board, which is why I spend my time out here telling everyone about Fresh Truck. I’m even happier that it’s two days a week now. Now with the HIP Program, the savings have been even greater.” The Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) offers customers with SNAP benefits the option to purchase $40-$80 worth of fruits and vegetables (depending on their household size) automatically reimbursed into their cards each month. By expanding the purchasing power of our shoppers, this program has enabled many folks to incorporate more produce into their diets. We are excited to be able to offer this resource to our shoppers at the Fresh Truck.

We are so thankful for Monnique’s advocacy for Fresh Truck and her excitement about sharing healthy habits with her neighbors.  Without community partners and ambassadors like Mo, help us make each market stronger and further our impact in neighborhoods across Boston.

 


Fresh Truck reaches hundreds of Boston families and individuals every week. Whether it’s through our Pop-Up Events, Weekly Market, or FreshRx Program we provide fresh food that ends up in the cabinets, refrigerators and dinner plates of communities across the city. Fresh Truck becomes a part of our neighborhoods, we know our customers and their stories and they know ours. Which is why we are excited to start ‘Fresh Truck Community Beet’ to share and celebrate the incredible stories of food, health, and community that we hear every day.

Blog / November Community Beet: Mo R.

Meet Nikki! Our newest Market Manager

Blog / Meet Nikki! Our newest Market Manager

We’re excited to welcome you as our newest Market Manager on the team. What initially drew you to the Fresh Truck?

For the last 10 years, I have been very interested in the restructuring of our food system in a way creates equitable access to whole, healthy food across the board. I believe that organizations like Fresh Truck have an important role to play in this restructuring by thinking out of the box and proving that alternative models are viable.

As community health advocates, Fresh Truck is interested in not only celebrating food culture but also cultivating stories surrounding food. Tell us about one of your fondest food memories?

Every New Year’s Eve I get together with my family to ring in the new year and share a bounty of handmade tamales with my aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins, and friends. We get together the day before to prepare the hundreds of tamales and sit with my aunts at a table assembling each down a production line. My Tia always complains that my cousin puts too much masa in the ones that she makes and picks them out of the pile, arguing with her daughter about whether or not a particular one is good enough. When we get together the next day we have a bounty of tamales, champurrado, refried beans, and rice that we share while waiting for midnight to strike. There is always enough for everyone to take home leftovers and I always look forward to having leftover tamales with a fried egg for breakfast that first week of January. It is one of the days I look enjoy most every year and I wouldn’t trade those memories for the world.

Being a Market Manager is a tough but rewarding job. What are you most excited to bring to Fresh Truck?

My commitment to helping people and positive attitude has always helped me continue on through the adversity inherent in this line of work. When it seems like something is impossible and the odds are stacked heavily against us, all we can do is continue to do the right thing and have faith that everything will work out.

We love a good food pun, give us your best one!

What does the caffeine addict say to his coffee every morning?

“I love you a latte.”

Blog / Meet Nikki! Our newest Market Manager

Fresh Truck Community Beet: Cathy Sisto

Blog / Fresh Truck Community Beet: Cathy Sisto

Fresh Truck reaches hundreds of Boston families and individuals every week. Whether it’s through our Pop-Up Events, Weekly Market, or FreshRx Program we provide fresh food that ends up in the cabinets, refrigerators and dinner plates of communities across the city. Fresh Truck becomes a part of our neighborhoods, we know our customers and their stories and they know ours. Which is why we are excited to start ‘Fresh Truck Community Beet’ to share and celebrate the incredible stories of food, health, and community that we hear every day.


For our first ‘beet’, we are focusing on our Hyde Park weekly market stop at 1137 River Street in front of the Thomas M. Menino YMCA. This location was developed in partnership with Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital’s Community Health and Wellness department and is one of our first FreshRx food prescription locations. Every Thursday we are joined by nutritionist Allie Lang RD who prepares healthy recipe samples and provides nutrition information to patients as they shop.

When we pull up in front of the YMCA at 3:OO every Thursday Cathy Sisto is always one of the first customers waiting for the market to open. She is a Quincy resident and has lived in the Boston area for nearly her entire life. Cathy isn’t just shopping for herself she regularly shops for her friend Mary, who is on oxygen and is unable to drive or visit a grocery store.

Cathy and Mary have been friends for over 4O years,  so when Mary became sick it was a given that Cathy would be helping out because they think of each other as family. When our FreshRx Program with Brigham Women’s Faulkner Hospital started up in Hyde Park, Mary was one of the many patients who received $10 a week to spend at the mobile market. Cathy began shopping for Mary to take advantage of the opportunity to not only get food every week but also find innovative ways of preparing food to support a healthy lifestyle.

“Fresh Truck has changed our way of eating, we have been cooking more healthy food and it’s more affordable than you’d expect. For $1O dollars you get a lot of stuff and it lasts very long. I like it because it is easy to move down the aisles and its close to parking, making it so easy to transport my groceries after. And I’ve never brought home anything that was bad or spoiled!” – Cathy

When it comes to her favorite produce items to purchase and cook from on the Fresh Tuck she says, “The fresh carrots. Nothing like fresh carrots. They are always expensive in the grocery store. I often cook for Mary because she cannot cook, and I like to make zucchini & summer squash with a little olive oil, garlic,  onions, with salt and pepper.” Cathy also chats with BWFH nutritionist Allie on Thursdays and enjoys the recipes and samples, “I tried the chickpea dill-lemon salad that the nutritionist made, I liked it so I took home the recipe and made it for Mary and she really liked it. It was delicious.” 

Cathy & Mary’s relationship with Fresh Truck and the impact the market has on their life is an incredible example of the stories that fuel us every day!

Blog / Fresh Truck Community Beet: Cathy Sisto

Fresh Truck x Freedom Schools

Blog / Fresh Truck x Freedom Schools

With the summer coming to a close we are excited to share one of the programs that is close to our heart. Freedom Schools is a reading literacy summer program implemented in communities across the U.S.A. where there exist gaps in access to quality academic programming. Originating from the civil rights movement of the South, Freedom Schools started with the intention to organize African Americans in seeking social, economic, and political equality in the U.S. through education as well as literacy programs for all. Today, thanks to the passion, development, and hard work of Cathy Draine and Mayra Leith the Freedom Schools summer camp in Boston has been expanded to include programming related to financial literacy, restorative community justice, as well as food and cooking literacy for the entire family. We couldn’t have been more excited to partner with the Freedom Schools and to have the annual opportunity to engage deeper and more directly with families and their communities about food culture and community health.

Fresh Truck’s involvement in the program is rooted in weekly inter-generational cooking demonstrations hosted by elders in the Grove Hall community.  Every Wednesday evening over the 6-week program Freedom Schools Scholars and their families would gather for a potluck and cooking demonstration. We provided fresh ingredients for the host to prepare their recipe in front of the group. After the presentation kids and their parents would receive $10 to pick out ingredients from the demo and any of their other fresh favorites. This programming created engaging touch points around food and health while celebrating healthy food culture and traditions within the Grove Hall community.

Over the 6 weeks, we had many memorable moments with Scholars and their families. Miss Mayra’s mother and husband cooked traditional Cape Verdean food and showed us the importance that role models have in  keeping traditional food & cooking culture alive. Identifying these folks not only helped us learn more about the different fruits and veggies that the Roxbury community enjoys but also about how people use food to pass down their heritage and knowledge to the next generation. This way we could not only share knowledge on healthy eating but also restorative community power that will uplift the intersectional cultural realities we all live within.

During the smoothie demonstration Scholars were able to participate in preparing and blending their own drinks. Throughout all the demonstrations Scholars were encouraged to try new things. With their smoothies, they were able to try new and different combinations, including green smoothies. Which to their surprise still tasted great! Getting them involved and learning with their hands and taste buds empowered the Scholars to understand more about their diets, bodies, and nutrition. Parents also reported having an easier time getting them to eat healthily and be involved in their food preparation at home.

Our work with Freedom Schools is a fun and rewarding part of our summer each and every year. Over 6 weeks we are able to engage deeply with Scholars, families and Freedom School staff in order to meaningfully support their programs. We want to give specials thanks to MassHousing for their annual support and enthusiasm for our work with Freedom Schools. We also want to extend our gratitude to Miss Mayra, Miss Cathy and entire the Freedom Schools staff and parents council for their hard work and dedication to making this incredible program happen.

Blog / Fresh Truck x Freedom Schools

HIP HIP Hooray!

Blog / HIP HIP Hooray!

Fresh Truck’s mission has always been to radically impact community health by getting food to the people that need it most, which iswhy we are excited to be an approved Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) Retailer. According to the official HIP announcement under the Mass Grow Initiative, “The Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) matches your SNAP purchases of local fruits and vegetables when shopping at farmers markets, farm stands, mobile markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share programs.” HIP is not only the first program of its kind for SNAP recipients, but also to the state of Massachusetts. Its objective is to specifically support local businesses and farmers as well as reduce the economic constraints that limit low-income people from purchasing fresh produce.

Here is how it works: HIP enables SNAP customers on Fresh Truck to be automatically reimbursed on their EBT cards for all purchases of fruits and vegetables. All SNAP recipients are automatically enrolled in the program and due to the online systems, all reimbursements happen immediately after the purchase. The monthly amount available for reimbursement varies based upon household size and can be summarized as follows:

 

1-2 persons $4O household cap
3-5 persons $6O household cap
6+ persons $8O household cap

With the addition of the Healthy Incentives Program, Fresh Truck will be able to continue to increase access and affordability of fresh food to more Boston families. The program is currently up and running at all of our year-round 14 weekly stops across the city. We are incredibly excited to make this incredible resource available to our families!

For more information about HIP please visit the official information page

 


En Espanol

La misión de Fresh Truck siempre ha sido impactar radicalmente la salud de la comunidad al conseguir comida para las personas que más lo necesitan. Por esta razón, estamos muy contentos de anunciar nuestra certificación como uno de los primeros  vendedores de Healthy Incentives Program (HIP). Según el anuncio oficial de HIP en el marco de Mass Grow Initiative  “HIP coincide con sus compras SNAP de frutas y verduras locales al comprar en mercados de agricultores, . “HIP no solo es el primer programa de su tipo para los receptores de SNAP, sino también para el estado de Massachusetts, y parece ser un ejemplo para el resto de los Estados Unidos. Su objetivo es apoyar específicamente a las empresas locales y las agricultoras, así como incentivar a la gente a comer productos frescos y locales

 

Así  es como funciona. HIP permite a nuestros clientes de SNAP ser reembolsados automáticamente en sus tarjetas EBT para todas las compras de productos fabricados en el Fresh Truck. No hay que registrarse para ser elegible, ya que todos los destinatarios de SNAP se inscriben automáticamente en el programa, y ya que nuestros sistemas están en línea, todos los reembolsos se realizan inmediatamente después de la compra.

Hay que gastar tus dólares de HIP, porque no se deshacen, aunque los reembolsos permanezcan en tu cuenta hasta el próximo mes. Así que es como conseguir dinero gratis para gastar principalmente en los mercados locales de alimentos mensualmente!

 La cantidad mensual disponible para el reembolso varía según el tamaño del hogar y se puede ver aquí en corto:

1-2 personas $ 4O limite mensual de casa
3-5 personas $ 6O limite mensual de casa
6+ personas $ 😯 limite mensual de casa

Ahora que tenemos  nuestros sistemas en línea, también seremos capaces de servir a nuestra comunidad,  dándoles uno de los únicos puntos de acceso móviles que lleva HIP en una base de todo el año a 14 paradas semanales en Boston. Estamos muy emocionados de agregar otro punto  a nuestro modelo que nos permite entregar los alimentos más frescos a todas las comunidades que siguen liderando el crecimiento de Fresh Truck una bolsa de productos deliciosos a la vez!
Para obtener más información sobre HIP, visite la página de información oficial

Blog / HIP HIP Hooray!