A new community food market in north-end Halifax is using a digital currency-inspired idea to help families struggling with the costs of fresh food. 

The Community Fair Food Market is the newest initiative from Hope Blooms, a youth-led non-profit organization known for its gardening education program and popular salad dressings.

"A lot of people in the community can't afford to spend hundreds of dollars each week on fresh produce and instead they spend most of their money on non-fresh produce — things that are not really as healthy for you or good for you," said Kolade Kolawole-Boboye, the social innovation manager for Hope Blooms.

"So with this program, we are trying to tackle that and [improve] accessibility and empower the community to have access to fresh food at very reasonable prices."

The market opened in June to families who have children enrolled in any of Hope Blooms' youth programs the month prior.

Every Thursday, the families receive 20 "Hope Blooms Market Coins" to purchase goods from the market — including fresh fruits and vegetables, bread and eggs — for reduced prices.

Kolawole-Boboye, 21, started developing the market idea with executive director Jessie Jollymore last fall.

Kolawole-Boboye wanted to help after realizing that many Hope Blooms community members have large families, which makes shopping for healthy groceries quite expensive.

"Our market alleviates that grocery bill pain and just gives people access to food for very equitable prices," he said.

"You get 20 points and ... you can get all your produce for the week. We're trying to help people and … help them improve their lives overall."

Kolawole-Boboye said he suggested the idea to use a cryptocurrency-like system to streamline the shopping process through an app.

The app is still in development but members will eventually be able to use it to check their balance and track their spending at the market.