Reasons to Love Toronto 2014: #28. Because a Mobile Veg Stand Delivers Fresh Yuca to the Inner Suburbs

This spring, a former Wheel-Trans bus retrofitted with produce shelves began appearing in the parking lots of Lawrence Heights, Woburn Park and three other neighbourhoods dominated by isolated apartment towers. The bus, part of a joint project of the United Way, the city and the non-profit agency FoodShare, serves as a mobile market of bargain-priced high-quality produce, much of it grown in Ontario. To the organizers, it’s a ploy to promote healthy eating to a population without many nearby grocery stores. To the customers—­primarily recent immigrants on low or fixed incomes—it’s an incredibly convenient source for their favourite foods—cassava, plantains, eddoe and yuca (ingredients often used in Caribbean and Filipino cooking). Sometimes, the tastes of home are also the best for you.