If grocery chains won't come to Detroit, create a food truck to bring the food to it's residents

[MidwestRick]

I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did while researching and writing it. As a native Detroiter, I love to write about my hometown, and how people are doing their part to help it's citizens.

Now that our cities streets are being frequented more often by taco trucks, and cupcake trucks, why not expect to start finding trucks with something really useful, like fresh fruit and vegetables? Although not the typical food truck, we have found a truck to profile that was truly designed to help its community.

Experts call Detroit a food desert since more than half of its population must travel at twice as far to reach the nearest grocery store as they do to a fast-food restaurant or liquor store. Detroit’s limited public transportation makes it difficult for those without cars to get to farmers markets or suburban stores, and decades of population decline (from 1.8 million in the 1950s to half that now) have made most neighborhoods in the 138 square mile city too sparse to support corner produce stands.

Those who have studied the city state that people in developing countries have much better access to fresh produce than Detroit’s residents. The lack of fresh food has become a public health problem in Detroit. In a neighborhood which is has a ratio of 26 liquor stores to every grocery, a community group has found a way to sell fresh fruits and vegetables like ice cream. This group is taking a fresh approach to the problem and, it’s bearing fruit.

The full story can be found here: http://mobilecuisine.wordpress.com/2010/11/05/food-truck-profile-peaches-and-greens/

[Lindsay]

1. I am old enough to remember

a fruit and vegetable truck coming through our Cleveland neighborhood when I was a kid.

An idea whose time has come again, and good on 'em.

[MidwestRick]

2. This is a paradigm

that many US urban communities can and should follow imo.

-MR

[bluestateguy]

3. This makes no sense

People have to buy groceries. A grocery chain should be chomping at the bit to get a store in the city with all of those guaranteed new customers.

[MidwestRick]

6. You are so correct.

The only thing that kept me from moving into the city was the way I would have to travel to the burbs to get simple things like groceries. Now that I am in Chicago, things have changed. They have groceries in most communities in the city. What we were always told in Detroit was that the national chains felt that loss-prevention costs outweighed the benefits of coming into the city. Personally, I always felt that it was a cop out.

I hope this spreads throughout my hometown.

-MR

[EFerrari]

4. Thanks, Rick.

:kick:

[lumberjack_jeff]

5. Excellent. Lack of access to real groceries is a big problem for the urban poor. n/t

[littlewolf]

7. I could not understand why .... so did a little looking

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070705/METRO/707050349

now that is from 07 ... but I am sure this hasn't changed ...

1. low margins - not much profit in staples like bread/milk/ veggies ....

2. High employee turnover ....

3. Security ...

4. because of local income they will not be able to sell high ticket items .. ie: gourmet

that is it in a nut shell ....
they are small independent stores ... but quality is low ... prices high ....

[MidwestRick]

8. I'm sure it hasn't changed either.

There is a huge group of people pushing the city to create urban farms in areas where currently abandoned homes sit. I'd almost prefer more farmers markets in the city, since they aren't as concerned with profits as the national grocery chain are.

This truck won't solve the problem itself, but it is certainly a great start.

-MR

[Hannah Bell]

16. there's deliberate disinvestment in detroit, as witness by the fact there

are chain stores right across the city's border, which detroiters shop at.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. As late as 1958, there were food trucks in our town.

Back then, women usually were at home, without cars, while the man was at work.

the milk man came by, the breadman came by, the fuller brush man came by.
I remember milk bottles and bread and I remember a lot of door to door salesmen.

Before then, in the cities, they had "pushcart" vendors.

Seems a lot cheaper on overall gas use if the food truck comes to the neighborhood than if each
household drives to the store and back.

[MidwestRick]

14. I'd love to see the milk man

come back. As long as he doesn't visit too long :)

-MR

[Hannah Bell]

15. there were specialty food trucks around LA in the 80s. one of my husband's

relatives (japanese) patronized them.

[handmade34]

10. rec

[KamaAina]

11. There was a guy doing that in the Lower Ninth Ward after Katrina

out of the back of his pickup.

[MidwestRick]

12. Has he done that since Katrina

or did he stop?

-MR

[KamaAina]

13. Not sure. He was down there for quite a while

but now that businesses have reopened along St. Claude Ave. (albeit tiny mom 'n' pops), he may have stopped.

[dixiegrrrrl]

17. Here in rural South, people sell all sorts of produce out of their pickups.

They usually have one spot they park at, regular.
Watermelons, other melons in summer, bags of sweet potatoes and onions in fall, turnips greens in early summer,collards , etc.
Only thing is the stuff sits out in the sun all day, so I don't buy greens.
You get to know who sells what and when, and in these small towns everyone drives by them sooner or later.

Cash only.

[MidwestRick]

18. I love the idea

of buying fresh produce from a truck that pulls up on my street.

-MR

[eleny]

19. Just yesterday I was wishing we had this service in our neighborhood

I live outside Denver in an older suburb. I started counting off how many people in the neighborhood are retired, work part time or at home plus the stay at home moms. It seems to me like a service like this could be viable if given half a chance. There's already a dairy delivery that offers some baked goods and juices.

I grew up in Queens, NYC and remember Mr. Brown and his vegetable & fruit truck making the rounds once a week. Even if one of the large food chains initiated the service I would definitely try it out. Shopping for meat, poultry and fish could be reduced to a once a month outing.