Spoonfuls Spotlight: Real Truth Food Pantry
With the addition of our second route in the MetroWest region back in 2022, we added a number of new partners. One was Real Truth Food Pantry in the Saxonville neighborhood of Framingham. Since partnering with Spoonfuls, Real Truth has been able to offer more fresh food to their clients and open their pantry an additional day each month.
We caught up with Clover Fray, who manages Real Truth’s Food Pantry, to learn more.
Real Truth Food Pantry serves the Framingham area and its surroundings every second and fourth Tuesday of the month.
When we started, before COVID-19 hit, we cooked more hot meals that we would bring to feed people experiencing homelessness in Framingham, Southborough, and Ashland. Now, we focus on distributing boxes of fresh and non-perishable items to our community, including a big variety of food from Spoonfuls. People gravitate to the food Spoonfuls brings. When clients come to the pantry, we tell them they can take as much as they can use (which helps people think about what they’re picking up and hopefully avoids food ending up in the trash). If we have extra, we share that food with a Spanish-speaking church in the area that provides it to their community.
The knowledge gap around existing resources is one barrier. That’s why we have a team that informs our community about our food pantry and that we have good food available for people to pick up without any charge. We also work to make sure people here have access to nutritious food, as [fresh food] tends to be more cost-prohibitive. Sometimes, we deliver food to people who are a part of the community but cannot come pick it up for themselves because of transportation-related issues.
Food variety is what I look forward to the most, but seeing Spoonfuls pull up to our pantry is exciting in itself because it means fresh food has arrived! Neighbors who live in the area know the truck. When they see it pull up, some come right away to get food. Others call to ask if the truck has arrived. It’s not uncommon for people to start forming a line to get this fresh food as we unload the truck with the Spoonfuls team. Not only does Spoonfuls bring us fruits and vegetables, but also poultry. It’s good food – and people tell us about it after they bring it home. They get it all right here!!
We must consider the humans who produced this food — the resources and work spent so we can eat it, and for what? To just go to waste? People work hard, and they also need food. Are we putting in hours of labor for food to just go to waste? This is where Spoonfuls and food recovery work comes in.
Spoonfuls’ deliveries improve clients’ lives by connecting them with food they wouldn’t otherwise have the ability to purchase. Lamb is one example.
This food has also helped to build connections among our community. Recently, some of our clients came together for a breakfast outside the church. They mentioned that everything they were cooking was provided by the pantry through Spoonfuls’ contributions. It was all recovered food – and served over 20 people! I was so happy to know that this food enriches people’s lives.
