College of Charleston grad wants to take on Charleston’s food deserts with a mobile farmers market
For Lindsey Barrow, it’s all about bringing healthy, locally grown food to people living in North Charleston’s food deserts.
After working as a legislative aide in Hawaii for a number of years and helping to start community gardens and a farmers market in his district, Barrow, a College of Charleston graduate, moved back to South Carolina where his interest in social justice, sustainability and organic farming sparked an idea: the Lowcountry Street Grocery.
Barrow and business partner, Kate DeWitt, hope to raise funds through a Kickstarter campaign to convert an old school bus into a veritable farmers market on wheels. Much like the ice cream trucks of summer, Lowcountry Street Grocery’s (LSG) goal is to go into low-income neighborhoods to offer farm-fresh, sustainable goods at an affordable price.
Keeping in mind Barrow’s dedication to social justice, LSG has filed to become a Benefit Corporation, or B-corporation, along the lines of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream and Tom’s Shoes. SlowFood Charleston, Carolina Farm Stewards Association, GrowFood, Lowcountry Local First and Rebellion Farm, in Ravenel, have offered advice and support for Barrow’s idea to tap into the growing awareness of the Charleston area as an agritourism site in order to launch LSG.
According to Barrow’s business model, LSG would serve both the high-income markets and low-income markets, where prices would be affordable. The bus would also be refurbished to hold meats and cheeses, local crafts, gardening kits and nutritional information. Recipes would be provided using ingredients available in that day’s market baskets and there would be occasional healthy cooking demonstrations by a volunteer chef. LSG would also accept SNAP/EBT benefits and run year-round (five days a week, three to four stops per day).
“Brick-and-mortar places can only serve particular neighborhoods,” says Barrow. “Mobility is key.”
Want to know more?
The Lowcountry Street Grocery Kickstarter campaign runs through April 29. Check it out at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1212557452/lowcountry-street-grocery-mobile-farmers-market
What is a food desert? A food desert is defined by the USDA as “urban neighborhoods and rural towns without ready access to fresh, healthy and affordable foods.” Conveinence stores and fast food restaurants are the only suppliers of food, rather than grocery stores, supermarkets or farmers markets and residents might lack the transportation needed to get to a fresh food source. People living in a food desert usually subsist on poor diets that can contribute to higher levels of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
There are an estimated 23,000 people in the Charleston area that are living in food deserts. According to the USDA, an estimated 25,133 people in Richland County and 5,762 in Lexington County are in designated food deserts.
Are you in a food desert? Use the USDA’s Food Access Research Atlas to check out your area. http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/fooddesert#
This story was originally published April 15, 2015 at 12:06 AM with the headline "College of Charleston grad wants to take on Charleston’s food deserts with a mobile farmers market."