My grandparents ran a small country store where farmers could buy groceries. Eventually these stores went out of business because they couldn’t compete with the grocery store chains. Some people had trouble getting to the large stores, and Jewell Food Trucks filled part of this need. Their drivers delivered to area farms and to towns that were too small to support a grocery store.
Now we have something similar happening locally. Grocery stores have moved out of many areas, creating what people call food deserts. Homefull, a local nonprofit that has been serving the area’s homeless for over 30 years, is addressing the food desert problem with a new Mobile Grocery, a grocery store on wheels.
It’s a custom built 42 foot Freightliner truck. The sides expand to provide shopping space. I took this photo at the Dakota Center which they visit every Thursday morning. If you’re downtown today you could see the truck at Sinclair Community College this afternoon from 3 to 5pm. Check the schedule here.