Fresh fruit and vegetables anyone?
The Massachusetts Avenue Project, located on Grant Street launched a new initiative in 2008 called the Mobile Market. Its second season will begin its second season in May.
The Mobile Market brings healthy foods into many neighborhoods that do not have access to quality meals. An RV filled with organic and locally grown food is traveling to various locations throughout Buffalo and will offer affordable prices to customers.
This mobile grocery store has demonstrations on health and nutrition, taught by the staff and youth of the Massachusetts Avenue Project.
Youth Enterprise Coordinator Zoe Hollomon said, “We want to get the community excited about nutritional foods and we plan to give out recipes and samples to our customers.”
The food that can be purchased from the Mobile Market is grown on a half-acre urban farm owned by the Massachusetts Avenue Project. Area students are employed to grow and produce a variety of fruits and vegetables to sell for profit. The Massachusetts Avenue Project not only gives teenagers job opportunities but also allows them to get their hands dirty.
“We want to get the kids off the street and into our program,” said Hollomon. “The youth have the best ideas and they are very innovative.”
Program Director of the Massachusetts Avenue Project Diane Pickard started the organization in 1992 because she was concerned about the growing population of youth on the streets. Pickard wanted to incorporate urban agriculture into a non-profit organization benefiting the West Side.
A group of 50 teenagers between the ages of 14 and 19 are employed for both the summer and during the school year. Not only do they learn the farming end of producing food but they also participate in classes for the business end of selling their products.
Outreach Coordinator Erin Sharkey teaches the youth graphic design and marketing. They are able to design menus, work with a professional chef to create recipes for foods that sell on the Mobile Market and act as small business owners.
Sharkey said that although the organization is a lot of hard work it also is very hands on and educational.
The Massachusetts Avenue Project works with local businesses and farms to attain the resources and tools it needs to successfully grow and sell food. Without the help of area farmers and business owners, the project’s popular salsa and chili starter products would not have made it to grocery store shelves.
The website at http://www.mass-ave.org/Growing%20Green.htm gives a full list of stores that sell the chili starter and salsa.
In 2003, the University at Buffalo Department of Urban and Regional Planning conducted a study on locating areas in Buffalo with a lack of adequate grocery stores. The places they found to be most devastating lie within the West Side of Buffalo and are called “food deserts."
The Mobile Market will visit these areas because they not only have a need for fresh food but are also heavily populated.
Pickard said, “We will be traveling twice a week to a school, a public housing complex and a senior housing complex which are both on the East and West Sides of Buffalo.”
The Mobile Market accepts cash, credit and EBT or food stamps.
To find out more information about the Mobile Market or the Massachusetts Avenue Project, contact the organization at 882-5327 or visit the Web site at mass-ave.org