Photo by Eileen Mellon
World U.P. Foundation, a Richmond nonprofit organization that strives to build cross-cultural understanding and offer hands-on learning experiences, is currently building a Mobile Produce Pantry. The pantry is expected to launch in late September and coordinate with existing community pantries to provide fresh fruit and vegetables.
Liz Dukette, founder of World U.P., was struck in her community outreach work by the difficulty of providing produce to families in need.
“The more I reached out to people, the more I realized [produce accessibility] was a problem,” says Dukette. “It’s no secret that RVA has an access and food insecurity problem. The goal of the Mobile Produce Pantry is to help alleviate both.”
In early 2017 Dukette contacted Northside Outreach Center, a nonprofit that works to assist low-income families and youth, and learned that they would love to provide produce as part of their program, but lacked the space and resources to keep it fresh.
Dukette also noticed that people began to line up at the center as early as 8:30 or 9 a.m., even though the facility didn’t open until 10 a.m. The center can only fill 100 bags a month for families on a first-come, first-served basis.
“We realized the problem was lack of capacity, and it’s a problem a lot of pantries have,” says Dukette. “We started talking about our relationship with FeedMore and came up with the idea that, instead of expanding in one space, why not park in the lots next to [food pantries] and give out produce ourselves?” says Dukette.
In a working, non-monetary partnership with FeedMore and Northside Outreach Center, the Mobile Produce Pantry will serve as a refrigerated trailer fit to store, transport and distribute produce alongside existing food pantries that do not have the ability or infrastructure to do so themselves.
"[Food pantries] already have an audience that we know wants and needs this service," says Dukette. "We don't want people to come out twice to shop; this way they can shop for everything they need at the same time and they've met their needs," says Dukette.
When World U.P. buys produce from Kroger to support local pantries such as NOC, they typically have the funds to purchase 50 pounds at a time. When aiming to feed 100 families, however, Dukette says 50 pounds of produce amounts to only about an apple or a banana per family.
If the Mobile Produce Pantry program is successful, it will be the first such partnership for FeedMore, and will allow the pantry, as an agency partner, to purchase produce at four cents a pound and obtain 1,500 pounds of produce at a time — an exponential increase in the amount of fruits and vegetables they currently offer.
“We wanted to make sure we were supplementing things out there, not replacing [them], and working with other nonprofits,” says Dukette. “At the end of the day we should be working together to help everyone in the community.”
Dukette’s father, a 40-year veteran contractor, helped to design and build the pantry trailer. By employing a coolbot, a small piece that can be attached to an AC unit to regulate the temperature in an enclosed space, the refrigeration method is 80 percent more energy-efficient, and significantly cheaper.
The goal is not only to use the truck as a produce pantry, but to host cooking demonstrations and exchanges where people can bring different ingredients, showcase what they make in their own kitchens and meet neighbors in the community.
“When everybody is cooking together, you come together as a community, and that exposure and visually seeing how the same [ingredient] can have completely different results allows people to have a broader perspective,” says Dukette.
The Mobile Produce Pantry still needs $9,000 to complete the project. Once the pantry is up and running, World U.P. will operate it by accepting monthly sponsorships to pay for the cost of maintenance and distribution. Donors who fund a monthly sponsorship will be featured on the trailer's signage and also have the opportunity to send volunteers into the community. The sponsorship levels are broken into tiers: The Farmer level is a donation of $1,000 and above; Harvester is $500 to $999; Gardener is $250 to $499; Cultivator is $100 to $249; and Planter is under $100.
During its initial pilot phase this year, the Mobile Produce Pantry plans to park at Northside Outreach Center once a month, and then expand in 2019 to operating once a week or more at various food pantries that want World U.P. to distribute at their location. The hope is to serve at least four exisitng pantries by the end of 2019.
On Friday, Aug. 3, the Mobile Produce Pantry will host a fundraising day during which a private donor will match up to $1,000 in donations. Click here to donate, and to become a sponsor of the project contact Liz Dukette at liz.dukette@worldupfoundation.org.
