A Fresh Few Weeks

Blog / A Fresh Few Weeks

Wow. A few weeks have gone by since our Launch Party and we’re now fresh off hosting our inaugural HUBweek event ‘Innovating the Commonwealth’s Food Economy’ with Commonwealth Kitchen. We’re still having a hard time processing all of the of love and high energy that went into those events. Neither words nor punny thank you’s can express the gratitude we have for everyone who came out and supported us and our community of partners. It means so much to us and to the communities we serve.

Your support over these last months has advanced our mission of driving food, health and community across our neighborhoods all over the city. We’re trading in our dress clothes for flannels and hitting the road to put your support to work, but we still want you to stay connected:

  • If you didn’t get a chance to attend our events you can still show some love by donating to Fresh Truck or our friends at Commonwealth Kitchen
  • Book Fresh Truck for your next community health event or corporate wellness program
    Hit us up to volunteer on the truck
  • Follow our schedule and come buy some fresh food (yes, we’re going to be out all winter)

We mean it when we say our reach across Boston would not be as wide without your continued support and donations. It really does take two to “mango”, what we do just isn’t possible without you. Had to get one pun in there 😉

Tons of love,
The whole Fresh Truck Fam

Blog / A Fresh Few Weeks

Partner Spotlight: BMC HealthNet Plan

Blog / Partner Spotlight: BMC HealthNet Plan

In anticipation of our upcoming launch party, we’re celebrating all the wonderful people and partners who helped make our growth and expansion over the last year possible. First up in the FT spotlight is Boston Medical Center HealthNet Plan, or BMCHP for short. They’ve been with us from the beginning and they were our first major contributor after our Kickstarter campaign, helping us establish relationships with a city-wide network of health centers and other community health partners.

Together, we have hosted cooking demonstrations, nutrition education workshops, and community health block parties. In addition, BMCHP was the first organization to officially sign on to support our Veggie RX program, a program they were instrumental in helping us develop, and which saw remarkable success in its pilot run.

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“BMCHP afforded us the opportunity to take risks as a young non-profit. Their early stage support has been foundational to our success and growth.” – Founder and Executive Director Josh Trautwein

Our partnership with BMCHP has already helped us serve 1,000+ families across the city at 15 events yielding over $10,000 in sales. We’re excited to see what the future has in store, and we are extremely grateful for the role they played in our development as a young non-profit.

 

Blog / Partner Spotlight: BMC HealthNet Plan

Fresh Truck Launch Re-Freshed

Blog / Fresh Truck Launch Re-Freshed

We’re revving up our engines and hitting the road again—this time with valuable new partnerships, programs and a completely re’freshed’ look! This re-launch will be part of our renewed effort to play a critical role in Boston’s healthcare ecosystem, ensuring all Boston families have access to a reliable source of fresh nutritious food.

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Our work over the last year has built the foundation for Fresh Truck to grow its impact and expand our reach across the city. Our new network of partners positions us to make fresh food an integrated part of community health in Boston and will fundamentally change the way that families shop, cook and eat.’ – Founder and Executive Director Josh Trautwein

Providing access to nutritious food has always been the focus here at Fresh Truck, but it’s only a part of our overall mission as an organization. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts has signed on to back us as a community impact partner, providing funding and strategic support within the healthcare sector. Boston Medical Center HealthNet Plan has committed funding in addition to supporting community outreach and the pilot of our Vegetable Prescription Program. Nate Solder, offensive tackle with the New England Patriots, is championing Fresh Truck as the newest add to our board of directors. Rounding out all of our big news we’ll be rolling out a new addition to our #freshfleet!

Our retrofitting partner, Building Restoration Services, is hard at work on retrofitting bus two, which will work in partnership with our community health network to host pop-up markets, cooking demos and other food-focused health activities. Our Weekly Market  will begin in October, with ‘Fresh Stops’ in South Boston, Dorchester, Mattapan, Charlestown and East Boston, with more stops to be announced soon.

To celebrate the launch, we are hosting an event at our new base of operations Coppersmith Boston on October 1. Guests will have the opportunity to meet the Fresh Truck team, network with our supporters and hear more about what is next for Boston’s favorite fruit bus. This event is open to the public; tickets are $25 and cover food, drinks supplied by Harpoon Brewery and Coppersmith, live music, and tours of both Fresh Truck buses. More information about the event can be found here.

With all our new partnerships, programs, and a new set of wheels, the Fresh Truck launch promises to be fruitful in every sense of the word!

Blog / Fresh Truck Launch Re-Freshed

GEW & NEXPO

 

The incredible fall recipes written by Madeline Heising.
The incredible fall recipes written by Madeline Heising.

Global Entrepreneurship Week at Northeastern serves as a celebration of the school’s hard working entrepreneurial eco-system. We were thrilled to bring the bus out to the Kickoff reception on Monday night featuring recipes by CAMD student Madeline Heising the extraordinary author of The Collegiate Vegan. Despite the storm outside we had a great time giving away ingredients, giving tours of the bus and answering questions. Josh even had the chance to follow up Dean Courtney and share the Fresh Truck story including how the entrepreneurial resources at Northeastern have been critical to our growth and success.

 

 

 

NEXPO is a celebration of Northeastern's entrepreneurial programming and accomplishments hosted by IDEA.
NEXPO is a celebration of Northeastern’s entrepreneurial programming and accomplishments hosted by IDEA.

Our involvement with GEW continued on Thursday when we joined our venture peers at NEXPO, IDEA’s semi-annual entrepreneurship showcase. The event drew over 600 attendees that were curious and passionate about Northeastern student companies. It was a great opportunity for us to get in touch with our roots by giving out apples, talking with other ventures and hearing from stakeholders in the startup community. We were also honored to be listed as one of 6 Startups That Stood Out at NEXPO by Bostinno. NEXPO is always a great event and this year it was bigger and livelier than ever!

 

Blog / GEW & NEXPO

Fresh Truck Moves into the "Barn"

Blog / Fresh Truck Moves into the "Barn"

The Fresh Truck team is pleased to announce that we have officially locked down a headquarters at 103 Terrace street in Roxbury, aptly dubbed- “The Barn.” 103 Terrace was previously occupied by What’s Cookin at Mississipi’s- a beloved Boston Restaurant and catering service. The space was renovated by our friends at Maple Hurst Builders Inc.  Come through and check us out!

-Jt

Blog / Fresh Truck Moves into the "Barn"

MassChallenge Awards Ceremony

Blog / MassChallenge Awards Ceremony

Hey,

Josh and I attended the MassChallenge Awards Ceremony this evening with Boston Rising.  It was held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC) which, by the way, is an amazing venue!

MassChallenge is the largest-ever startup accelerator and competition, and the first to support high-impact, early-stage entrepreneurs with no strings attached. They gave out over $1M in awards this evening.  You can learn more about MassChallenge at http://masschallenge.org/ and see who won the 2012 competition at http://masschallenge.org/blog/awards-ceremony-liveblog.

The highlight of the night was Governor Deval Patrick’s keynote speech.  He spoke to Massachusetts’ leading position as a global hub for entrepreneurship and innovation and was extremely inspiring!

Congrats to all the winners!

Daniel

Blog / MassChallenge Awards Ceremony

Fresh Truck receives first funding!

Blog / Fresh Truck receives first funding!

Exciting news!

Last weekend Fresh Truck won a business plan competition sponsored by Boston Rising and the Center for Women and Enterprise.  The Q Contest was an eight-week long competition and technical assistance program.  We come away with $5,000 and some great insight on our business model.

This is our first major financial support and we could not be more grateful to the groups supporting us and investing in our mission.  Both organizations do great work locally, check out their info below:

Boston Rising – http://bostonrising.org/

Center for Women and Enterprise – http://www.cweonline.org/

Best,

DC

Blog / Fresh Truck receives first funding!

Come see Fresh Truck at the Millennium Conference Tomorrow!

Blog / Come see Fresh Truck at the Millennium Conference Tomorrow!

Hey!

Fresh Truck will be tabled at the Millennium Campus Conference at Northeastern University tomorrow.  It is a great event focused around helping ventures with social missions gain exposure, learn from great entrepreneurs, and network with amazing organizations.

Some of the speakers include:

Leymah Gbowee – 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Paul Farmer – Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Partners in Health

Jeffrey Sachs – Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University

For more information regarding the conference and to buy tickets visit: http://www.mcc2012.org/

BIG Thanks to Northeastern University for donating a table to Fresh Truck!

Daniel

Blog / Come see Fresh Truck at the Millennium Conference Tomorrow!

THE FRESH TRUCK

Blog / THE FRESH TRUCK

Hello world,

My goal for this blog is basic.  I want to keep everyone updated on what the Fresh Truck is up to.  I will try to update as often as possible so long as I can keep the content somewhat entertaining.

I’d like to start by highlighting the problem Fresh Truck is addressing.

These are all sad, but true, facts:

  • Massachusetts has fewer supermarkets per capita than almost any other state.
  • Boston has 30% fewer supermarkets per capita compared to the national average.
  • An uneven distribution of supermarkets leaves a disproportionate number of lower-income people without access to nutritious food.
  • Lower income residents of Massachusetts are likely to suffer from obesity and other diet-related health problems at rates significantly higher than those of the population as a whole.
  • MA spends an estimated $1.8 billion treating obesity-related illness.
  • Lifestyle and environmental factors account for almost 70% of the average person’s health, yet only 4% of national health expenditures are focused on healthy behaviors.
  • 1/3 of school children in MA are overweight or obese by the time they reach the first grade.
  • 58% of the all MA residents are overweight or obese.

The lack of supermarkets in many lower-income communities means that residents rely heavily on corner and convenience stores with higher prices and lower-quality foods or travel long distances to purchase nutritious foods. Diets that rely on food from convenience stores are often higher in sugar and fat, contributing to obesity and other diet-related disease.

 

What is Fresh Truck’s Mission?

The Fresh Truck seeks to eliminate food deserts and mitigate diet-related health issues within the city of Boston by making fresh produce accessible and affordable for all individuals.

 

Okay, so I just realize that this blog is getting pretty long and I still haven’t even explained what Fresh Truck is.  So here I go……

 

The Solution:

Fresh Truck

  • A retrofitted school bus that serves as a mobile farmers market, selling fresh fruits, vegetables, and other healthy eating options to multiple underserved communities each day
  • A tiered pricing model that helps subsidize prices for the individuals who need it most
  • Structured, collaborative partnerships with a broad range of CBOs, public sector agencies, and grassroots community leaders to streamline service delivery and maximize community impact
  • Interactive, educational programming that allows customers to engage with the food and its source, learn more about the benefits of maintaining a healthy diet, and discuss strategies to make healthy living easy

 

And that’s Fresh Truck……..for now.

Thanks to everyone for their support!  Please feel free to contact me at dan@thefreshtruck.org with any questions, comments, concerns, inquiries, etc.

Thanks!

Daniel

Blog / THE FRESH TRUCK