A new food pantry with a new but traditional twist opens next week in Tuscaloosa.

“Welcome to West Alabama’s first client-choice, market-style pantry,” Table of Grace committee chair Ann Weeden said when she stepped up to the podium at Thursday’s media event, which received cheers from the audience.

Grace Presbyterian Church’s food pantry officially opens Oct. 3. The pantry is set up like a traditional grocery store, including shelving for canned goods and refrigerated and frozen sections for items like meat and fruits. Anyone who participates in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) automatically qualifies to use the pantry at no cost and others may be eligible depending on income.

The market operates on a points system based on the number of people in the household. A single person has 15 points, two people have 20 points, and so on. Each item has a value of one to three points. For example, if a two-person family wanted four vegetables and two fruits, they’d use six points. Volunteers will give a sample shopping list with points information to those who use the pantry.

“Operating a market pantry provides our neighbors with a more dignified experience while reducing food waste,” Weeden said. “When people can choose the food they want, they aren’t being given things that they can’t eat that they then have to just get rid of.”

Thursday’s media event attracted church members and representatives from primary food partner West Alabama Food Bank and the architectural firm Orcutt Winslow.

“There is a decided spiritual element to this that we hope you can see here today,” said principal architect Baird Dixon. “The forms that the space that we’re in relates strongly back to the sanctuary, which is on the precise axis that this building is located on. It is not just about function. We believe that this is something that is going to bless everybody that comes here to receive food and those that help them in that endeavor, so we’re proud to be part of it.”

Grace Presbyterian Church has been operating as a food pantry for decades. However, moving from a monthly, bagged distribution to an open market is an opportunity to provide fresher and more specific options for people, according to Grace’s Mission, Peace and Justice committee chair Emily Altman.

“We already have access to fresh produce, but we want to expand into our community garden well, hopefully in the spring of 2024,” Altman said. The garden will provide fresh food for the market and “be a community space where people can come and learn about garden education and grow and have community events,” she said.

Besides offering non-food items such as diapers, the goals of the pantry will change and grow over time. For now, ending food insecurity in West Alabama is the primary goal.

“We have a big, big vision for Table of Grace that reflects the vision we believe God has for our city,” Altman said. “God wants everyone in Tuscaloosa well fed. God wants everyone in Tuscaloosa to be healthy. God wants everyone in the city to thrive, and we are going to do everything we can to bring that reality to our community.”

For more information on how to shop, donate, or volunteer at Table of Grace, go to the Grace Presbyterian website.