Did you know that 34% of Virginians have to travel 15 minutes or more to purchase fresh produce? The RVA Food Collaborative and Shalom Farms have partnered to create Grown to Go, an initiative that is working to bring fresh produce directly to the RVA neighborhoods that need it the most. Grown to Go is a mobile market that sells fresh, organic, and local produce at an affordable price in RVA communities with limited access to healthy food. The mobile market made its debut on June 6th, and has already made a huge impact!

“The response has been fantastic,” said Dominic Barrett, Executive Director of Shalom Farms. “And what has made this so successful is that the project allows us to leverage the expertise, relationships, and resources of over a dozen different organizations. Each partner brings something unique to the table. Together we are able to achieve a shared goal of making healthy local food more accessible for everyone, particularly low-income communities where healthy food can be so hard to find and so hard to afford.”

Like the CRC, CEO of FeedMore and Facilitative Leader for the RVA Food Collaborative Doug Pick is excited about the collaborative nature of this initiative and its potential for significant impact, stating: “[Grown to Go] is a stellar example of non-profits with similar interests and shared clients getting together for the betterment of our community… From FeedMore’s point of view, we love that even more healthy produce is making its way into our food deserts where so many of our clients have diet-related health issues.”

You can learn more about Grown to Go at shalomfarms.org/mobilemarket, and be sure to also check out @GrowntoGoVA on Twitter for up-to-date information on the whereabouts of the mobile market.

 

This example of regional collaboration not only brings together multiple partners, but also crosses both our Social Stability and Healthy Community priority areas. Contact us if you have a collaborative story to share.