On July 7th and July 8th we joined the Peaches and Greens' Produce Truck, which covers the surroundings of Higland Park area. The truck reaches out to liquor stores, to senior centers—where they set up their produce like a market stand, and equally important, it sells products to people on the streets. We basically joined them on the roads, mapping what, where, and to whom was sold.
The truck driver—Marvin—grew up around Maine Street/McNichols, and therefore knows a lot of people on his route, which makes the job a real social business. Sometimes he makes a special stop to do visit an old lady that barely just because he knows her. And because she might want some grocery.
One of their most selling items, considering it being summer of course, are the watermelon (sliced and packed in a plastic cup, comes with a fork) and the peaches. One man bought some vegetables: a broccoli, some tomatoes and an onion, to make a salad.
As the flyer in their store says: "The MI Neighborhood Food Movers Will Come to You!" Similar initiatives are F.O.O.D. Field Of Our Dreams and UpSouth Foods. (www.michigan.gov/foodmovers). What Peaches & Greens does is enrich a neighborhood with access to their produce, for a fair price, with little means.
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