KarunaNews Story

In the Bronx, New York, nonprofit Change Food For Good just installed its first free food vending machine at Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club. Founder Samia Lemfadli says the machine will be stocked once to twice monthly with free, quality grocery items, including eggs, fruit, and vegetables. After over 15,500 lbs of free food distributed to more than 1,100 families in NYC, the group hopes this new model for distribution can provide folks with good food easily and when they need or want it. A QR code is available for people to leave requests for food they might want to see in the machine. The items vend slowly, taking about 15 seconds to fully reach the user, so eggs can land gently in a carrier. “One of the main goals of the Good Food For All program is to ensure that individuals, even if they’re struggling, still have their dignity and agency preserved through food choices,” Lemfadli said. “Say, a single parent [is] able to walk up, get what they need — no muss, no fuss, no stigma, no means-testing.”