Until last summer, a discounted food program run by the Emergency Foodshelf Network sent its trucks to senior centers and social service agencies, offering meat, fresh vegetables and other items to the public at up to 50 percent off grocery store prices.

Then, after a request from Ford Motor workers, the automaker’s assembly plant in St. Paul was added to the monthly schedule in July.

Up next, once logistics are worked out: the headquarters of Sun Country Airlines in Mendota Heights, where workers at the bankrupt carrier have seen their pay drop 30 percent in recent weeks.

Organizers said they expect similar appeals from other businesses where workers are feeling squeezed as a recession many economists say could be the worst in decades takes hold.

“People who haven’t had to look at grocery prices in the past are now really feeling the effects of high energy and food costs,” said Sophia Lenarz-Coy, outreach coordinator for Fare for All Express, the discounted food program operated by the nonprofit food shelf network.

“They’re looking to stretch their grocery dollars in ways they haven’t had to before.”

Lenarz-Coy said Fare for All’s distribution sites have become busier places and many of the new customers are workers with full-time jobs. In October, sales were nearly $45,000, more than three times the total for the same period a year ago.

Fare for All Express was launched in January 2007 as a mobile version of a program that required users to make orders in advance for pickup at a warehouse.

Aimed at the general public, the program offers various food packages at discounted prices. Organizers said the discounts are possible because the program taps the purchasing power of the Emergency Foodshelf Network to buy in bulk and pass savings on to consumers. Most of the labor is provided by volunteers.

The program offers various types of packages, including one for $17 containing chicken, pork, fish, or beef as well as fresh fruit and vegetables that organizers say would cost about $40 in a grocery store. This month, a special Thanksgiving package features turkey, stuffing, packages of chicken, potatoes, apple pie, corn, cranberries and fresh produce for $25. A meat-only package is $12.

Workers at the Ford plant were on the leading edge of a downturn that has taken hold across the economy. Originally scheduled to close this year, the plant’s demise was first delayed until 2009 and has now been pushed back to 2011.

Three-quarters of the plant’s work force is on reduced wages. About 300 of the Ford plant’s current workers are full-time temporary employees hired at lower wages than plant employees who took buyouts in 2006. Starting at $14.20 an hour, they make about half of the $28 to $30 an hour of the employees who decided not to take a buyout. About 300 workers who took buyouts were hired back at a reduced wage of $21 an hour.

Union members at the plant formed a committee to figure out how to help employees cope with the downturn, and brought the issue to Ford plant management.

“Clearly there are workers there on reduced means compared to what they were making two years ago,” said Mike Goldman, who works for the state dislocated worker program and has worked with Ford workers. “This is a way for them to extend their food dollars.”

Fare for All Express made its debut at the plant in July. Seventy-two packages of food were sold. Last month that number was 138 — the best seller being the mega meat pack.

“I think we’ll have a huge turnout for the November one,” said Tracy Ausen, a Ford worker who sits on the peer committee that initiates assistance programs for the workers. The union hopes to keep Fare For All Express going until the plant closes.

Kari Altema, a maintenance clerk at the Ford plant, buys the mega meat packages for her family. During one month it included some chicken, bacon, sausages and a few packages of hamburger patties. Total price, $22. “It helps a lot and it’s convenient,” Altema said.

She even takes orders and delivers packages to teachers at her sons’ school, and has donated a few to a women’s domestic violence shelter.

Extending Fare for All to Sun Country isn’t a done deal yet, organizers say, though they say it’s likely to debut there in January or February. In the meantime, workers at the carrier have been given information about the 18 other distribution sites around the metro area.

“We definitely want workers who are struggling to know we are available throughout the metro,” said Lenarz-Coy. “It doesn’t look like the economy will get better any time soon so I assume this will be more of a trend than an anomaly at this point.”

Julie Forster can be reached at 651-228-5189.

Copyright 2008 Saint Paul Pioneer Press