Farms to Families Mobile Market makes debut

This month we are celebrating the fourth birthday of our Farms to Families program with an exciting new addition to the Foodbank family – a brand new mobile market truck!

With fresh produce becoming a luxury for so many families in regional Victoria, the new truck will enable us to deliver more food, to more families in need.

Working in joint partnership with local food donors and charities, the pop-up farmers’ markets will be held monthly across two locations – Morwell and Ballarat – offering clients of local charities access to a range of free, nutritious and fresh produce.

“After the popularity of last year’s Farms to Families markets in Morwell, we’ve been working to find ways to bring more fresh produce into Gippsland. Thanks to this innovative mobile market truck, we can host more markets to help ease the burden on families who are struggling to make ends meet,” said Dave McNamara, Foodbank Victoria CEO.

“These mobile markets form part of our ongoing strategy to address food insecurity in regional Victoria. Thanks to the recent state government funding, we are currently working to build Foodbank Hubs in Morwell and Ballarat to ensure Victorians experiencing hardship will have continued and improved access to fresh, frozen and staple food items,” Mr McNamara continued.

The bespoke design enables families to select their own produce directly from the truck, empowering community members and creating a genuine farmers’ market feel.

The program will celebrate its fourth birthday this September, with a total of 66 markets held in some of the state’s most disadvantaged suburbs and towns. To date, this program has provided more than 251,000 kg of fresh produce to over 13,000 families across Victoria.

Special thanks to the William Buckland Foundation, CMI Hino, Alltruck Bodies and Plasfab for making it possible.