The Centre for Faith, Art & Justice's Impact on Food Insecurity in Boston

In December 2024, the City of Boston’s Office of Food Justice (OFJ) took another step in addressing food insecurity by awarding $500,000 in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds through Healthy Food Access through Cold Storage grants to twelve recipients. The goal of these grants is to increase cold storage, refrigerated transportation, and overall capacity for organizations working to provide fresh food to Boston neighborhoods contending with high rates of food insecurity - between January 2025 and December 2026. The grants build on the findings of the 2024 Food Recovery Assessment, which demonstrated the need for investments in cold storage infrastructure and resources for food distribution sites and food recovery organizations to maintain adequate temperatures to safely transport fresh, recovered food at scale.

Food Justice in Action

One unique recipient of these funds is The Centre for Faith, Art & Justice, an organization committed to promoting access and affordability through its range of programmatic initiatives, including a comprehensive Centre Food Justice Program. The program supports food-insecure individuals through its community pantry, community market and commissary kitchen - where meals are prepared for two sit-down meals each week. The Centre for Faith, Art & Justice’s food distribution options combine purchased, donated and recovered food (i.e. surplus fresh food and shelf-stable food that would otherwise go to waste).

With the ARPA funds from OFJ and community donations, The Centre for Faith, Art & Justice purchased a new electric, refrigerated cargo van significantly enhancing its food storage, transport, and distribution capabilities of perishable food. Financial donations are the sustaining force behind many non-profits. The addition of the van has allowed the organization to:

• Expand fresh food distribution to two Boston Public Schools
• Start food recovery at the New England Produce Center in Chelsea
• Expand transport of recovered and donated food from wholesale produce markets, regional farms, grocery stores and restaurants
• Boost recovery from Haymarket’s outdoor market near Boston's North End and Faneuil Hall

Cold Storage on Wheels

Lack of refrigeration is a major barrier to providing affordable fresh foods -- such as fruits and vegetables, meat, eggs, dairy, and seafood -- to residents. A refrigerated vehicle helps overcome this challenge by addressing the widespread need for reliable cold storage. Use of the cargo van helped double the amount of food recovered from Haymarket and overall makes operations less labor intensive and helps triple the capacity of food procured/distributed in any given single trip The Centre Food Justice Program does. Additionally, the electric van can also serve as low-cost cold storage overnight, acting as a “refrigerator on wheels” -- essential to preserve recovered food as long as possible. Linda Karpeichik, Director of Centre Food Justice Program, shares the impact:

The Centre for Faith, Art & Justice recovering food at Haymarket with the cargo van.

“The van is instrumental in getting food. The refrigeration factor is wonderful. The quality of the food is better. And with what’s going on with Federal and State challenges, the recovery of food is so critical. With the van we are able to procure around 85,000 lbs of food a month as opposed to 50,000 lbs of food before getting the van.”

Fresh produce available for purchase at The Centre for Faith, Art & Justice’s Centre Food Hub’s storefront located at 3702 Washington Street across from the Forest Hills MBTA station.

Expanding Access and Choice

One part of the Food Justice Program, The Centre Food Hub, houses the community food pantry and the community market. The food pantry supplies groceries and fresh produce to 450 households registered to pick up pre-boxed food weekly at their convenience. The community market sells food products at lower prices and welcomes all neighbors with true affordability and no eligibility requirements to shop, providing an experience with the autonomy of multiple food choices.

Kym Barboza-Owens, Food Justice Coordinator at The Centre for Faith, Art & Justice emphasizes how the cargo van has strengthened the Centre Food Hub’s impact:

“With more fresh food available, especially through our partnership with Haymarket, we have been able to regularly move pantry recipients off the waitlist gradually adding 100 families to our food pantry program. We supplement pantry boxes with fresh produce and stock our store with a variety of culturally preferred produce, dairy and bread choices. With more fresh food, we have been able to increase our store hours and offer 7 additional hours per week for shopper access.”  

Looking Ahead

With the increased cold storage capabilities, the Food Justice Program can now ensure that food is preserved at optimal temperatures, ultimately reducing food waste and enhancing the nutritional value of what is provided. This funding is not just about providing immediate relief—it’s a step toward creating a sustainable infrastructure for the future. The Centre for Faith, Art & Justice is poised to enhance their Food Justice Program even more as they seek to formalize a partnership to access cold storage space at a collaborative food storage and distribution hub in Roxbury. Access to this space would, for example, allow for maximum food recovery at Haymarket on Saturday nights, with the recovered food stored until it can be distributed to communities at the start of the week. This cold storage chain is essential to the critical food security activities The Centre for Faith, Art & Justice does to improve food access for Boston residents. 

Measuring the Impact of Healthy Food Access through Cold Storage

The Office of Food Justice’s Food Recovery Assessment indicated that cold storage capacity unlocks a level of fresh food access that could directly contribute to alleviating challenges faced by food insecure residents who are reliant on no cost or low cost food across Boston. Through the Healthy Food Access through Cold Storage grants, OFJ aims not only to increase the availability of fresh, culturally relevant, nutritious food—including recovered produce—but to shift food distribution and recovery systems to ensure the emergency food system includes more choice, dignity and sustainability.

Over the next two years, OFJ will measure the impact of these investments on Boston residents facing food insecurity, looking at both volume of food and number of residents helped by the awardees. Through measurement of the impact of these grants, we also hope to better understand how keeping fresh, safe, recovered food out of landfills can also impact the city’s overall greenhouse gas emissions due to food waste.