Mobile Food Market at Ajax Community Centre to benefit Community Care Durham

A Mobile Food Market at the Ajax Community Centre every Wednesday brings fruits and vegetables grown by Durham College horticulture students in Whitby to local residents, with all proceeds to Community Care Durham.

The weekly market is a collaboration between the Town of Ajax, the college’s Barrett Centre of Innovation in Sustainable Urban Agriculture and Community Care Durham’s food programs.

The market happens every Wednesday between 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. until October 25. During bad weather, the market will move inside the community centre.

All produce is sourced from Durham College, along with other partners and local sources.

Produce items may include:

• Beets
• Cherries
• Currants
• Kale
• McIntosh Apples
• Mixed Greens
• Onions
• Peas
• Potatoes
• Raspberries
• Strawberries
• Turnips

The Mobile Food Market is set up in the north parking lot of the Ajax Community Centre (75 Centennial Road) and the cost of the produce is set at a “reasonable” market price. Vendors accept credit, debit or cash payments.

Community Care Durham helps those in need with services, from Assisted Living and accessible vans to Meals on Wheels and a Community Food Box, that support clients’ independence, health, and quality of life, and help them remain in their own homes.

The garden centre, designed and maintained by Durham College students, was launched last year at a warehouse in Whitby.

“This project underscores how reinventing green spaces within our communities through regenerative agricultural practices can support local food production so those in need have access to a safe and stable supply of fresh food,” Kelly O’Brien, the college’s Associate Dean, Faculty of Hospitality & Horticultural Science, said at the launch. “We are proud of how our students are becoming leaders in the community, demonstrating how fresh food can be both accessible and affordable with a bit of outside-the-box thinking.”

The space includes raised-bed planters with numerous herbs, including basil, lemongrass, chives, lavender, thyme, sage, kale, nasturtium and ornamental leopard’s bane, while the gardens feature produce like snap peas, sweet peppers, tomatoes, carrots, beets, turnips, arugula, purple cabbage and butternut squash. Everything grown is donated directly to Community Care Durham.