Giving Compass' Take:

• Michael Devlin explains how mobile food markets are making an impact on food deserts in New England.

• Is this model sustainable, impactful, and scalable? 

• Learn how a restaurant is trying to end food deserts. 

Have you ever been to an urban neighborhood and noticed that you can buy liquor, cigarettes, and junk food in abundance, but cannot find a green salad or an apple? Enter the mobile farmers’ market. In lieu of full-service supermarkets, these “veggie mobiles” have the flexibility to truly meet people where they are—and can help underserved families and communities gain greater access to fresh, healthy, local food.

In the first year, mobile farmers markets are proving to be an effective strategy in increasing access to fresh food for people in neighborhoods where it is hard to find. And it is clear that these markets are also a successful vehicle for serving low-income families. In Hartford, for example, two-thirds of all Hartford Food System’s mobile market customers are on some form of government assistance. And in Worcester, 84 percent of Worcester mobile market customers report that they consume more fruits and vegetables because the mobile market comes to their neighborhood.

Read the full article about bringing farmers markets to food deserts by Michael Devlin at Grantmakers In Health.