Montreal public market teams up with community organizations to tackle food insecurity
'It's been so helpful to my family,' says participant in voucher program
Austin Ola-Daniels was making the most of his Saturday morning, browsing the stalls at his local farmer's market in east end Montreal.
With a huge smile on his face, Ola-Daniels showed off his food coupon card — a recurring voucher provided to vulnerable people or families who are facing food insecurity.
"I love this card, it's been so helpful to my family," Ola-Daniels said.
The new Montrealer arrived with his family from Nigeria just one year ago. He says he uses his card to supplement his family's needs.
The voucher system is part of a new program being offered at the Pointe-aux-Trembles Public Market in partnership with three local community organizations, each with a different clientele base, that will run all summer long.
Ola-Daniels was referred by Aide aux Immigrants à Montréal, an organization that helps immigrants and refugees in the city.
The voucher program allows those living in precarious situations to buy fresh food and produce without worrying about the cost using a prepaid, rechargeable card.
Kate Johansson, the executive director of the Pointe-aux-Trembles Public Market, explained that the amount on the card varies according to household size, with single people getting $50 a month, a couple $75, and $100 for a family of three. Any household with more than four people gets $125 worth of goods per month.
Ola-Daniels said he and his wife were astonished to be given a "credit card."
"She was so happy," Ola-Daniels said of his wife, when he explained they could buy anything they wanted.
For Johansson, that's what the food voucher program is about.
She says giving people a choice of what they buy helps foster a sense of agency and dignity.
"Most of the people that are coming here with the coupon program are from the food bank," Johansson said. "So they typically don't have the choice of their produce or any product that they have."
Program expands to include 210 people from 95 different households
The program started as a pilot project last year and served 50 households.
Building on that success, it has now been expanded to include 210 people from 95 different households.
The need for food assistance programs in the city, however, continues to grow as people struggle to make ends meet amid the rising cost of living and a housing crisis.
In its 2024 Hunger Count, Moisson Montreal said community agencies in Montreal fulfilled close to one million requests for food assistance every month, in what it called an "alarming record."
Food banks in the city have been vocal about feeling the strain and in many cases have had to turn people away.
Peter Batos is the general manager of the Action Secours Vie d'Espoir, the only food bank in Montreal's east end and a partner in the voucher program.
They screen potential clients and make sure the help goes to those who need it the most.
His organization gets most of their goods through Moisson Montréal and Batos says the last year has been tough for all food banks in terms of keeping shelves stocked.
He says the trade war with the United States is partly to blame, with tariffs affecting prices.
"As soon as these barriers started getting on, the buying power of Moisson Montréal and ours drastically dropped," Batos said.
He added that fruits and vegetables are the hardest thing for the food bank to get.
"And when we get, we don't get a lot, we don't have more choice," Batos said.
That's why he says it's a big plus for local families that get the chance to go to the public market.
The food voucher program is seen locally as another alternative.
"It's obviously not solving all the problems and the amount on the card is not enough to do a full grocery," Johansson said. "It's really just to complement the offer of the food bank."
The summer program started last week and Ola-Daniels said he's bought some vegetables, bread and was even able to treat his children to some pizza from the market.
"The pizza is, wow, good," he exclaimed, adding his kids were very appreciative.
Ola-Daniels agreed with Johansson that the card helps with additional needs the family might have.
"Without the voucher card maybe things we have at home are finished, then we have to use our own money to go and buy it back, but we are using the voucher card to get it," he said. "So it's an advantage for us."
Organizers are hoping that one day there will be a universal food coupon program that can be used all year round at any farmers market in Quebec.
Johansson said the initiative doesn't just help those facing food insecurity, but the community as a whole.
It helps strengthen community ties by bringing together people in one place who wouldn't necessarily meet otherwise, she said.
"It's something very rich and that I want to cultivate more," she said
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With files from Shuyee Lee