Civil Eats

BOSTON, Massachusetts – Thursday, July 27, 2017

Every Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m., a school bus parks outside the South End Community Health Center in Boston, opens its doors, and invites local residents to come inside and purchase groceries.

Fresh Truck is more than just a mobile supermarket, however; the nonprofit is working to get nutritious foods into the hands of people who lack access. Unlike traditional supermarkets, the shelves of the old bus are stocked with fresh fruits and vegetables and devoid of salt- and sugar-laden processed foods; shoppers can use cash, debit/credit, and EBT state welfare benefit payment cards.

At the time, the only grocery store in the neighborhood closed down, so there was a big gap in our programming

Executive director Josh Trautwein came up with the idea for a mobile fresh food market while coordinating nutrition education for a Boston health center. “At the time, the only grocery store in the neighborhood closed down, so there was a big gap in our programming,” he recalled. “We were encouraging families to eat healthier, but there was nowhere close by for them to shop.”

Fresh Truck launched in 2013 with a mission to improve the health of Boston residents. The nonprofit’s two school bus-based markets make 11 stops throughout the city each week, mostly in low-income neighborhoods and food deserts where residents lack access to fresh foods and often resort to purchasing their groceries from corner stores with limited selection. Read More...