Have you heard of The Daily Table?  We’d be reading about it here and there and finally made a trip last week. It’s one of my new favorite spaces.

Here’s the story:

Daily Table is a not-for-profit retail store that offers our community a variety of tasty, convenient and affordable foods that will help you feel and be your best; food that will keep you moving forward, not hold you back.  We provide both “grab-n-go” ready to eat meals, and a selection of produce, bread, dairy and grocery items all at prices that will put a smile on your face, and designed to fit within every budget.  Many of our items are prepared fresh daily in our own kitchen onsite.

We offer an upbeat, clean and friendly retail store environment that is open to everyone in the community.  We can offer these daily values by working with a large network of growers, supermarkets, manufacturers, and other suppliers who donate their excess, healthy food to us, or provide us with special buying opportunities.

In this way, we are able to keep prices affordable for all our customers.  Our meals are priced to compete with fast food options, making it easier for families to eat healthier within their means.  And all the food in our store is informed by guidelines set for us by a leading group of nutrition experts, which makes it easy for our customers to make great food choices.

We held off on going to Daily Table for so long partially because we weren’t sure if it was open to all, and we certainly didn’t want to take away from anyone who could really benefit from shopping there. Then, while at the Dorchester Winter Farmers Market (another favorite), we were encouraged to visit and learned that everyone is welcome. The more shoppers, the more support the concept receives.

The Daily Table is bright, colorful, and inviting, with a friendly staff, and it relies on volunteers to keep costs down. Every time we have visited, the selection has been different, as the food is excess food from the store’s partners. I love that the selection varies, and we’ve decided to start our shopping here each week to plan meals around what they have, then supplement at the regular grocery store. On past visits, we’ve seen amazing deals on wild tuna (two hefty steaks for $5), spicy chicken burgers (four for $2.99), and organic yogurts, which are $0.49 each. Five pound tubs of hummus for $2.99 and baby carrots for $0.49 per pound make for plenty of healthy snacks that are affordable for a family.

One of the really great things about The Daily Table is their made-on-site pre-made meal program. So far I have tried the delicious curried butternut squash soup, pulled pork pizza, and my new favorite, chili lime coconut chips, and everything has been so good. You can peek into the kitchen while you shop, and just like with the grocery items, prepared foods also often change. I’ve seen curries with rice, beef stew, quesadillas, sandwiches, and more. The prices are extremely competitive with fast food, making eating healthier much easier for busy people, especially the many in our community who hold multiple jobs to make ends meet.

Shopping at The Daily Table has allowed us to save money and discover new ingredients. It’s also made me get creative in the kitchen, and in general, it just fills my heart with happiness for our community, which is full of great people who deserve the opportunity and access to healthy food. Eliminating food waste while helping people eat better? It just makes sense.

The Daily Table is a big step in the right direction to alleviating some of the issues created by food deserts, and I am proud to support this pilot program.