New Riverside food pantry lets clients do their own shopping

Posted on by John

At this market, shoppers check items off their grocery list and walk away without being charged.

Welcome to the Fresh Start Pantry by Goodman in Riverside, the latest effort of the Inland Empire’s food bank to fight hunger.

Feeding America Riverside | San Bernardino opened the pantry Tuesday, Jan. 28.

  • Bary Bennett, a 64-year-old Mira Loma resident, chooses cans of...

    Bary Bennett, a 64-year-old Mira Loma resident, chooses cans of tuna Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, as he shops at the new Fresh Start Pantry by Goodman in Riverside. The pantry, run by Feeding America Riverside | San Bernardino, is like a grocery store where clients can set up shopping appointments online and pick up items for free. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

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Bary Bennett, a 64-year-old Mira Loma resident, chooses cans of tuna Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, as he shops at the new Fresh Start Pantry by Goodman in Riverside. The pantry, run by Feeding America Riverside | San Bernardino, is like a grocery store where clients can set up shopping appointments online and pick up items for free. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

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It has shelves, refrigerators, produce, dairy and canned foods like a regular grocery store. But the general public can’t just walk in.

Shoppers are referred from healthcare partners through the nonprofit organization’s FoodRx program, sending those in need of emergency food to the pantry, Feeding America spokesperson Rachel Bonilla wrote in an email.

Clients set up appointments online, then visit and shop at the store, which is named for donor Goodman North America Management, an Irvine-based logistics company.

The pantry’s goal is to let people who qualify choose their own food, taking into account their likes as well as dietary and religious restrictions, Bonilla wrote. For now, they can shop once a month, but organizers hope to later allow several shopping trips each month, she said.

Items on the shelves include excess produce picked from the fruit trees of food bank partners. Other business partners — such as Starbucks — donate sandwiches, burritos, cookies, cake pops and muffins. Feeding America Riverside | San Bernardino buys other goods using donations and grant money, though the bulk of the pantry is stocked with donated items, Bonilla wrote.

Though the pantry works only off referrals, the local Feeding America’s website lists more than 250 pantries across the Inland Empire that are open to public. Those in need an also call 951-359-4757 to find the nearest pantry.

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