Our Origins
Neighbors Who Cared
“We have learned that ‘emergency’ hunger relief, while important, is not enough. We see the value of community-based initiatives such as Fair Foods to work directly with and among families and individuals in need to help them look beyond the immediate hunger crises and strengthen the fabric of their neighborhoods.” – Laura Perille, former Director of Programs, Greater Boston Food Bank
Fair Foods Inc, founded by a group of Dorchester neighbors, is not a human service agency staffed by social service workers. Fair Foods is a social change organization, staffed by community people with experience in business, transportation, and produce. Our staff is ethnically and racially diverse. Our volunteers come from neighborhood youth groups as well as service learning organizations flown in from around the country. Volunteers reflect thousands of the world’s cultures.
Fair Foods programs emphasize self-reliance, independence, and personal dignity. Our activities include job development, youth programming, nutrition and agriculture (urban gardening and farming), and prisoner rehabilitation. Environmentally speaking, Fair Foods Inc, through value-added methods, prevents “waste” from reaching landfills by redistribution and direct consumption (Fair Foods food rescue) or by transforming waste into useful items (Seats of Consciousness park benches, compost boxes, planter bins). In the last ten years, the volume of our food distribution has nearly tripled to over 5 million pounds per year. In 1993, Fair Foods began to distribute produce and other perishable platforms, some of which now include Remnant Ministries, MA/COM - Food Share, and the Second Harvest Network. In 1994, Fair Foods grew from a five-day-a-week operation to a six-day-a-week operation and launched “Tutor Now”, a mentoring program that ran for three years. In 1996, Fair Foods began to operate in two states, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In 1996, Fair Foods initiated a farming program at the Middlesex Country House of Corrections in Billerica, MA.
In 1993, Fair Foods began recycling lumber and building materials under the name of Fair Exchange. In 1994, Fair Exchange delivered over 100,000 gallons of paint to the City of Boston. In 1995, Fair Exchange made possible the repainting of the entire Cleveland Middle School. In 1996, Fair Foods provided over $100,000 worth of lumber and paint (the third year in a row) to Boston’s Project Pride. Also in 1996, Fair Exchange piloted the “Seats of Consciousness” bench-building program at the Middlesex County House of Corrections.