In just two hours, several hundred people stocked up on free fresh produce and other nutritious food as part of Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s new expansion of Mobile Markets. The market took place at the IFFS’s Hoke Street Training Center in Southeast Raleigh, and is the first of several new Mobile Markets rolling out in low income neighborhoods over the next few months. Hosted in partnership with Passage Home and St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, the Hoke Street Mobile Market served 193 households and 664 individuals. The effort included "Sick or Shut-In" boxes of food for 87 people. Volunteers from St. Ambrose Episcopal Church packed the boxes on-site and delivered to folks who have limited mobility and could not make it to the market.
This is the first of several new mobile markets Inter-Faith Food Shuttle is opening this year in Raleigh, Durham, Zebulon, and Fuquay Varina to get good food directly to our neighbors in need.
What is a Mobile Market?
Mobile Markets are direct distributions of groceries and fresh produce in low income neighborhoods, designed to meet people at their point of need. We bring a refrigerated truck full of food, often including fresh produced gleaned from a local farm the day before (look at those leafy greens to the right!), to a community center, church, or health clinic, where we set up a temporary market. Then folks who need food can come "shop" for free! Each person can choose which foods they would like so they can take home food that they and their families enjoy.
Mobile Markets are efficient and cost effective. Because they do not require a permanent building or permanent staff, location set-up is flexible and hours can shift to weekends and evenings when people who are working are more able to access them.
Many of our Mobile Markets also include "Food Matters" nutrition lessons and cooking demonstrations to help families learn how to prepare the fresh produce they receive in healthful, safe, and tasty ways. It’s all part of building hunger-free communities where all members have access to enough nutritious food for a healthy and active life, as well as the knowledge and skills to utilize it!
Most importantly, Mobile Markets aren’t just about providing access, but celebrating nutritious food and community!