About Fresh spins off food truck nonprofit

Boston-based company About Fresh, which enables health care providers to cover food costs via prepaid debit cards, announced it is spinning off its Fresh Truck program into an autonomous nonprofit. 

The Fresh Truck program retrofits buses and trucks into mobile grocery stores that provide food to residents in need across Boston. 

The program runs three mobile supermarkets that feature fresh produce and other food, which customers can purchase using cash, credit, EBT, and payment cards provided through About Fresh’s Fresh Connect program. 

The Fresh Connect debit card program is available through a national network of some 10,000 grocery retailers, the company said. 

Fresh Truck Managing Director Seana Weaver was named executive director of the new nonprofit, according to About Fresh. 

“Ten years ago, we set out on a simple mission to get healthy food into Boston communities by turning one school bus into a grocery store. Today, we celebrate as Fresh Truck has become a fixture in our communities and a meaningful resource to ensure people have consistent access to healthy food,” said Josh Trautwein, co-founder and CEO of Fresh Truck and About Fresh, in a press release. “As About Fresh continues to expand nationally, Fresh Truck re-assumes its identity as an independent organization, rededicating its commitment to Boston neighborhoods.” 

Trautwein said that while About Fresh has “built an important national platform … Fresh Truck is at its best as a community-based organization.” 

“This move allows Fresh Truck to lean into that identity,” he added.