The Veggie Mobile
Location
The Veggie Mobile is a mobile green grocer increasing the availability of affordable fresh produce for inner city residents in neighborhoods where there are no grocery stores.
About You
Location
Project Street Address
40 River Street
Project City
Troy
Project Province/State
New York
Project Postal/Zip Code
12180
Project Country
United States
Your idea
Year organization founded:
1975
Year initiative began:
2007
Service/activity focus:
Nutrition and exercise
If Service/activity focus is "other" please define in 1-2 words below:
YouTube Upload
Project URL
Name Your Project
The Veggie Mobile
Describe Your Idea
The Veggie Mobile is a mobile green grocer increasing the availability of affordable fresh produce for inner city residents in neighborhoods where there are no grocery stores.
Innovation
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?
The Veggie Mobile is a mobile green grocer increasing the availability of affordable fresh produce for inner city residents in neighborhoods where there are no grocery stores.
Describe what makes your idea unique--different from all others in the field.
The Veggie Mobile is an innovative program increasing the availability of affordable fresh produce for inner city residents, including a large percentage of senior citizens. This population is particularly vulnerable to the health effects brought on by poor nutrition. The Veggie Mobile gives low-income and elderly consumers a chance to improve their own health by making it convenient, affordable and enjoyable to increase the quantity of fresh fruits and vegetables in their diet. Our mobile green grocer drives into targeted neighborhoods and sets up shop at pre-determined locations for weekly stops selling affordable, high quality produce at half the price of the grocery store. The Veggie Mobile concentrates its work in neighborhoods where the nearest grocery store is more than four miles away and where residents lack easy transportation and thus have severely limited access to affordable fresh produce.
Do you have any existing partnerships, and if so, how did you create them?
Local housing authorities and community groups in Albany, Schenectady and Troy, NY have welcomed and supported the market stops. The NYS Department of Health has funded the program costs and local foundations have supported purchase of the vehicle. Volunteers have helped staff on the Veggie Mobile. Volunteers also contributed to its “green” construction and creation; the mobile market runs on biodiesel and creates electricity from photovoltaic panels. Sage College Nutrition Science Department and The Albany Guardian Society have partnered with us to study the effects this program has on residents of two senior housing sites added to our service in 2008. Senior Whole Health, a local heath care provider, partners to distribute information. Local diabetes educators visit stops to talk about healthy diet and wellness. The local food bank receives overflow produce. These partnerships were built on strong contacts in the community as well as those that developed as the program grows.
In which sector do these partners work? (Check all that apply)
Citizen sector (non profits, NGOs) , Private sector , Public sector (government) , Academic sector (universities).
Impact
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact.
By making fruits and vegetables more accessible and affordable to inner-city residents, The Veggie Mobile makes a healthy diet the easy choice.
Please list any other measures of the impact of your innovation.
In a survey conducted by CDCG in 2002, none of the neighborhoods now served by the Veggie Mobile had access to a full-service supermarket where fresh produce was sold. This is still true in 2009. Our survey found that these neighborhoods are home to 43 convenience and liquor stores, only one of which sold any fresh produce. Even in that instance, the produce was extremely limited (only three items), not organic and the price was 245% higher than better quality items sold at the supermarket.
The Veggie Mobile provides access to fresh food for low-income and low-mobility residents of our area’s inner cities. There may be increased support for supermarkets and improved retail outlets of fresh food in the future but since the launch of this program, there has been no significant change in the neighborhoods surveyed. Our mobile green grocer is the only outlet offering low-cost, high-quality produce on a regular basis.
Is there a policy intervention element to your innovation?
While there is no specific work on policy as part of this programming, the Veggie Mobile has recevied local, state and national attention. the New York State Governor's Committee on Food Policy in its Dec. 2008 report cited the program as one of the innovators in NY providing healthy food choices in the inner city food deserts.
How many people does your innovation serve or plan to serve? Exactly who will benefit from your innovation?
21,000 customers per year have been served in the Capital Region of New York State by the Veggie Mobile since its launch in 2007. Low-income, inner city residents who live in and around local public housing authorities and community centers and senior housing complexes as well as the general public will and have benefited.
What is the key decision that you are trying to influence through your innovation/design?
The Veggie Mobile puts decision making into the hands of the consumer to select what they and their families want to eat. In addition, by using their food stamps or some of their disposable income to purchase produce on The Veggie Mobile, families make healthy choices that lead to behavior changes in the way they eat. When someone pays for something (even if it is inexpensive) they are more likely to value that item then if they are given it for free.
What have you learned about how people respond to your innovation/design?
Since its launch, the response of inner-city residents to The Veggie Mobile has been enthusiastic and positive. A customer with a chronic illness shops The Veggie Mobile because his doctor prescribed a diet of more fresh produce. He shops every week without fail, often with only an envelope full of loose change. Everywhere we go, we hear the same message – “because of the Veggie Mobile, we are able to put more fruits and vegetables on the table.”
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?
The majority of funding for The Veggie Mobile is provided by a five-year grant from the New York State Department of Health’s Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program. Our program was already not receiving enough funding from this grant to cover the program expansion that took place in 2008 and as with all programs funded by NYS, we received a funding cut for the 2009 grant year. we are seeking private support and foundation funding to supplement this state grant.
Financing source
Annual budget
2009 Community Gardens Organizational Budget: $736,814
2009 Veggie Mobile Budget: $98,900
Annual revenue generated
Annual Veggie Mobile Revenue: $56,000
Number of staff (full-time, part-time, volunteers)
Veggie Mobile staff: 2 full-time, 1 VISTA volunteer
CDCG staff: 11 full-time, 4 part-time
What are the main financial barriers, and how do you plan to address them?
The main costs associated with operating The Veggie Mobile are personnel and travel. We have two more years on our grant from NYSDOH-HPNAP and we plan to apply for their next round of funding. The Veggie Mobile program is extraordinarily popular and successful and has received praise and attention from local funders, state agencies, and the State Commissioners of Health and Agriculture. We are hopeful that this interest will continue to generate funding for The Veggie Mobile in the future.
Aside from financial sustainability, how do you plan to grow and scale the initiative?
The current Veggie Mobile coordinator is compiling a handbook and guide to creating a mobile market due to interest from around the country. We look to expand the program into a second vehicle when possible. We are also researching other funding sources to help support The Veggie Mobile. We plan to not just continue the existing programs but to expand our area of service with new funding commitments.
The Story
What was the motivation or defining moment that led to the creation of this innovation? Tell the story.
Capital District Community Gardens’ mission is to connect inner city residents in the NY Capital Region to healthy, local food sources. In 2002, Amy Klein, Executive Director read about a mobile grocery market serving Oakland, CA and thought we could create a mobile produce market. We knew the amazing effects our gardens had on neighborhoods and people’s diets. What about people who were not gardeners but who need access to affordable fresh food?
We realize that not all people living in the inner city can or will grow their own food in gardens, but all people deserve access to health-enhancing foods. CDCG continues to grow and expand to serve the neediest of our area’s residents and ensure that they do have convenient access to local, fresh food.
CDCG staff wrote a grant to the New York Department of Health which was funded in 2006. The grant supplies program monies and CDCG raised all the funds (around $60,000) for the vehicle which serves as the mobile produce market.
The Veggie Mobile is a brightly colored “green machine” that attracts shoppers with its creative exterior sporting a logo designed by local artists featuring an explosion of fruits and vegetables on its side. The Veggie Mobile runs on biodiesel and has solar panels fitted on its roof. It is also equipped with a sound system to play appealing and engaging music to let the shoppers in the neighborhood know it is open and ready for business.
Please name and provide a personal bio of the social innovator behind this initiative.
Executive Director, Amy Klein, who has been with the organization since 1996 and has more than 20 years experience in nonprofit management, leads CDCG’s staff. Under her leadership, the organization’s budget has increased from $66,000 to almost $800,000, the number of staff has grown from 2 to 15 and the number of gardens from 13 to 46. In addition to our regional community gardens, new program initiatives have also been created like the Produce Project, Squash Hunger, and The Veggie Mobile.
At what stage is this initiative?
Implementation and impact .
What resources would you need to take your initiative to the next stage?
Part of our program expansion would be to construct a second vehicle to serve more clients. A second vehicle requires increased staff to run and operate it. Increased staff would support outreach to neighborhoods. Since our survey in 2002, no new grocery stores have been built in the inner-city neighborhoods served by The Veggie Mobile. Another aspect of growing the program is to improve our produce storage facility which is currently housed at 40 River Street in our offices.
How did you hear about this contest and what is your main incentive to participate? (Confidential)
This contest was announced through the RWJ e-newsletters recevied regularly by our grant writer, Laura Whalen. Our main incentive to participate is to bring attention to our attempt to fill a void in the diet and health of minority, inner-city people: the lack of access to affordable fresh food which is the basis of a healthy diet.
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 | fholuba said: On May 11, 2009, the judges reviewed the entries for the Changemakers “Designing for Better Health” competition and ... about this Competition Entry. - 956 days ago read more > |
| The Veggie Mobile has been chosen as a finalist in Designing for Better Health. - 997 days ago |
| Mark Bergel said: This is a great idea, and it is wonderful that it runs on biodiesel and solar power, too. My organization, A Wider Circle, has just ... about this Competition Entry. - 1004 days ago read more > |
| CDCGGrants said: ---------- laura from capital district community gardens about this Competition Entry. - 1038 days ago read more > |
Comments
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laura from capital district community gardens
This is a great idea, and it is wonderful that it runs on biodiesel and solar power, too.
My organization, A Wider Circle, has just started to operate a Healthy Basics emergency food and personal care items program to supplement our existing services, which include the provision of basic home furnishings and health and education workshops at schools, shelters, and community centers. We often stress in the workshops the importance of eating fresh produce and healthy food, but we find that providing these items at low or no cost is something to which our organization will have to aspire for now. I wish there were a Veggie Mobile in Washington D.C. – especially in wards where there is a dearth of adequate supermarkets for the hundreds of thousands of residents, many of whom live in extremely low-income situations.
Thank you for your innovation and your hard work up to this point!
On May 11, 2009, the judges reviewed the entries for the Changemakers “Designing for Better Health” competition and would like to pass on the following feedback (listed below) for your entry. Thank you for applying and for your hard work in the field. We are excited to archive your entry to serve as a leading solution for the worldwide community of innovators who are seeking solutions that help people make better choices regarding their health and the health of others. We wish you continued luck with your innovative, sustainable, and socially impactful initiatives.
All the best, The Changemakers Team
“Great idea! Great business plan! This initiative significantly addresses the problem of urban food deserts and helps promote access to affordable fresh produce to communities who often have few options with regard to food availability. Fresh vegetables shouldn’t be just in Whole Foods. This is a good start.”
“This is an excellent community outreach program that reinforces fruits and vegetables and encourages the domestic market to catch up. We would like to learn more about what happens when your primary grant runs out in 2 years. Can you tell us more about your plans for financial sustainability?”
- Changemakers “Designing for Better Health” Judges: Doutores da Alegria, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Cornell Food and Brand Lab: Cornell University, Innovations in Health @ Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Pediatrics: University of California San Francisco.