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Veggie Mobile
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In April 2007, Capital District Community Gardens
launched another exciting, unique and innovative project that connects
people in need to healthy food:
The
Veggie Mobile.
Fruits and vegetables fill an important role in human
life: feeding the hungry belly. And they do so with nutritious
goodness. Fresh fruits and vegetables are key to a healthy lifestyle.
But, what if you live in a neighborhood where the nearest grocery store
is miles away and you don’t have a car?
The Veggie
Mobile
is a
produce aisle on wheels, run out of a box truck, with refrigerators and
shelves displaying fruits and vegetables for sale.
The truck was retrofitted to suit the needs of
the program by an amazing crew of multi-talented local volunteers. Solar
panels sit atop the roof to collect power to run refrigeration units and
other electrical equipment. The truck runs on biodiesel and is equipped
with an awesome sound system that plays lively
music to
announce its’ arrival at our scheduled market stops.
 The
Veggie Mobile Market currently
operates Thursday through Saturday with one hour stops at Senior
(assisted living) Centers, public housing projects and other
densely-populated locations in Albany, Schenectady, and Troy. Every
Wednesday we operate our Taste & Take program where
hundreds of residents from public housing come out to taste a different
fruit or vegetable and receive a free share of selected fresh produce. |
2009 Veggie Mobile Schedule
***Effective Thursday 4/23/09***
|
Day |
Location |
Time |
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Tuesday |
Ida
Yarbrough, 270 N. Pearl Street, Albany |
12:00-1:00p |
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Steinmetz Homes, 120 Emmons Street, Schenectady |
2:30-3:15p |
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Yates
Village, Van Debodgart & Vanvranken Ave. Schenectady |
3:30-4:15p |
|
Thursday |
Renwyck Place, 18 4th St, Rensselaer |
11:00a-12:00p |
|
St. Sophia Greek
Orthodox Church,
440 Whitehall Rd, Albany |
12:30-1:30p |
The Kennedy Towers Senior Housing Development,
2100 6th Ave, Troy |
2:00-3:30p |
|
Carroll Hill School, 112 Delaware Ave,
Troy |
4:00-4:45p |
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Friday |
South Mall Towers, 101 S Pearl St, Albany |
11:00a-12:30p |
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John P.
Taylor Apartments, Congress St @ River St, Troy |
1:00-1:45p |
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Ten Eyck
Apartments, 375 Broadway, Schenectady |
2:30-3:30p |
|
Martin
Luther King Apartments, 1 Eddy’s Lane by Frear Park, Troy |
4:00-4:45p |
|
Saturday |
Hamilton Hill
Arts Center,
409 Schenectady St, Schenectady |
10:00-11:00a |
|
Arbor
Hill on Henry Johnson Blvd. and 3rd St, Albany |
12:00-1:00p |
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Steamboat Square Apartments, 20 Rensselaer St, Albany |
1:15-2:00p |
|
Rainbow
Community Center, 847 River St, Troy |
3:00-4:00p |
To open a
printable version in Adobe Acrobat click
here.
To find out more about the day to day
operations, stories, and anecdotes from our Veggie Team visit their new blog:
The Veggie Mobile Blog.
To find the Veggie Mobile location
closest to you visit our
Google Maps site!
The thought process…
An idea that was tossed
around and talked about for years was finally a reality; a mobile market selling
nutritious fruits and vegetables in underserved neighborhoods throughout
Albany,
Troy, and
Schenectady. The markets’ mission: to make healthy foods
more affordable and more accessible to low-income residents by selling directly
to the people, year-round at wholesale cost.
With CDCG’s
Community Gardens and
Squash Hunger programs successfully helping to
alleviate problems associated with local food security and access to fresh
foods, the Veggie Mobile has filled a critical need that exists in our area
cities: lack of grocery stores selling affordable fresh produce.
Now,
The Veggie Mobile serves our area’s inner city neighborhoods on a
regular schedule providing fresh fruits and vegetables where they are needed
most.
The Veggie
Mobile Project was made possible in part with a
five-year grant from the New York State Department of Health’s Hunger Prevention
and Nutrition Program. Additional funds are being raised from generous donors
throughout the Capital Region to help support the start-up and first year
operational costs for this innovative program.
 Won’t
you join us by making a donation to support this unique effort to bring good
health and good food to neighbors in need?
Please
make a donation today!
Volunteers
are also needed for a variety of tasks necessary to keep this mobile market
running smoothly. Currently we are seeking individuals with open week days that
can help flyer and get the word out so more people can use have access to this
wonderful resource. For information on volunteer
opportunities on The Veggie Mobile, please email
vegvan@cdcg.org and fill out our
Volunteer Registration Form.
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