Fresh Harvest Pop Up Stand

By: Connor Perry
Kate Benashski is the Program Director at Citizens Inn Haven from Hunger. She currently runs The Fresh Harvest Pop Up Stand—a mobile food pantry that arrives on campus every first and third Wednesday of the month. The Stand is located at 68 Loring Avenue, across from Central Campus.
“This came about because we recognized a need,” says Benashski. That need being, “Food insecurity amongst students here at Salem State. There are neighborhoods in this part of the city that just are not easily accessible to the other food pantries for folks who are on foot. So this felt like an ideal place to do a mobile market. So we just bring the food here and folks can come and take what they need. All they need is a Clippercard or a photo ID or piece of mail proving their address in Salem.”
They provide a variety of fresh produce and canned goods, while volunteers work in the back to unload boxes and break down and recycle the boxes that have been unpacked. Students are free to mingle and take what they like. The whole event is free.
Benashski says they do a lot of food rescue. When speaking on April 17th, she said, “All the food you see today is rescued from Stop and Shop. They’re experiencing a labor strike. So they had a lot of food that’s going to waste in the market. So they asked us to come pick this up and rescue it.”
They would normally place an order with the Greater Boston Food Bank for stuff like shelf-stable milk, juice, canned tuna, canned chicken, or pasta sauce. They look for things that aren’t necessary to refrigerate that can be made into a meal. “And then [we get] fresh produce from the places that we order from. Places like Boston Food Bank. Haven From Hunger does a lot of rescue from local grocery stores and restaurants. We rescue 30-40 thousand pounds of food a month that would otherwise go into a landfill. We offer that in our pantry in Peabody and we bring some of that over here as well.” Benashski says.
Regarding the amount of visitors they get, I’m told, “We’ve seen the number grow every week. Two weeks ago, we had over one hundred and fifty people. And we’ll see how it’s promoted, how it grows, and what the need is. I would love to not do this on Wednesdays’ because there’s a need. But as long as there’s a need here we’ll be here. And it’s just fantastic to have the support of the University who were very proactive in recognizing the need and allowing us to set up here in this space. And also, the collaboration between the Salem Pantry and Citizens and Haven From Hunger, and the Grace Cove Foundation which helped fund this endeavor.
Anyone is free to volunteer, and the organization accepts as many volunteers as possible. There is no sign up. Just show up. They open at 8Am and they run until about 2:30. Bensashski has said they are not picky about how long students can volunteer for. “Students can come volunteer for a half hour between classes, or they can come volunteer from 8:00 to about 2:30. The biggest need is the unpacking in the morning. And then the restocking as people go through. And then at 2:00 when we end, it’s packing everything up, cleaning up, and then taking everything back to store the food that’s left over. Then we just need to leave the place like we found it. Whatever works for others’ schedules whether it’s a half hour or three hours we would welcome whatever help students want to give.”
They often get their food through rescue. Sometimes stores order too much. Or things stores think will sell won’t sell well, for whatever reason. “Those are the kinds of things we pick up and we recuse. The Greater Boston Food Bank also picks up a great deal from recue and from local growers and whatnot to distribute to member agencies.”
The selection is variable based on what’s available and what we’re able to store and what they’re able to transport. “We try to offer as much as we can,” Benashski says, “and as much variety as we can so that it helps folks kind of make ends meet.”
Kate Benashski Contact Info: kate@citizensinn.org