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On the surface, it seems strange that a food program would also take on the task of salvaging this surplus wood. Fair Exchange, however, stems naturally out of three causes:

1. Due to the nature of shipping and receiving, we find a need for a large crew for only a few hours a day to do the heaviest hand-loading work. The rest of the time has the potential to be utilized by other projects.
2. Some of the founding members of Fair Foods Inc have backgrounds in carpentry and can teach basic skills to volunteers
3. Turning surplus wood into marketable products is an innovative way to provide a funding stream for the food program, an opportunity for participants to learn carpentry, and a way to beautify the surrounding community at low cost.

Lumber and building materials began in earnest at Fair Foods in 1993. Initially, pallets rescued from the New England Produce Center and Kewitt Construction were pulled apart and denailed by community members and volunteer groups and made into fences for our shipping site at 200 Geneva Avenue. Recycled lumber became the raw material for our loading docks as well.

While this process was ongoing, area home-owners approached Fair Foods for materials to rebuild porches and frame rooms. Soon after, Somerville Lumber donated the first few pallets of overstock paint and Kewitt Construction became a regular supplier of “pallet lumber.”

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