Mobile Market rolls groceries into Milwaukee's food deserts
It's 24 minutes after the Fresh Picks Mobile Market has pulled up to Milwaukee Area Technical College, and the grocery store has already sold out of collard greens.
The store — not brick-and-mortar, but an extra-long, insulated trailer towed along on a white pickup truck — is on its second stop of the day, after pausing at the Pick 'n Save on Garfield Ave. to restock and refuel.
Inside, one wall is lined with fresh fruits and the other with vegetables, with a case of dairy and meats at the end, by the cashier.
"It's fantastic," said Geneva Jones, who's nudging a basket loaded with yogurt, milk, chicken and fruit toward the checkout counter. "I follow them all over."
Jones, who relies on the store to feed a family of four, is one of many Milwaukee residents who reside in the city's food deserts — neighborhoods with little access to grocery stores. In the case of the Mobile Market, the grocery store comes to her instead.
First started in 2015 as an initiative between Pick 'n Save and the Milwaukee-based Hunger Task Force, the store makes fresh and healthy foods available to people who would otherwise have limited access to those options.
The store supplements other efforts to expand food access in the city by addressing the question of "how do we give people dignity," Hunger Task Force executive director Sherrie Tussler said.
"Mobile Market's for everybody," she said. "It's not a poor people's store."
The store offers products at Pick 'n Save's lowest prices. Thanks to a federal grant the program received last year, customers also get a 25% discount off those prices.
The market also accepts low-income subsidized food assistance benefits. An employee is always on hand to help customers figure out if they're eligible for FoodShare and, if so, how to apply for it.
While the market began with only a handful of 90-minute stops each month, mostly at public housing sites for seniors, it's since expanded to 36 locations. Milwaukee Area Technical College's downtown campus is one of its newest, chosen to address growing food insecurity among college students, Tussler said.
That doesn't stop the school's employees from shopping there, either. Lantha Little, an associate dean of the MATC School of Health Science, swings by the market to pick up lactose-free milk for her toddler son at a much lower price than she'd find elsewhere.
"Help a sister out!" she said on a day when the milk wasn't in stock. Still, her arms were full with other groceries she'd bought.
Mobile Market's offerings are varied and usually seasonal. In one visit, you can pick out grapes, avocados, turnip greens, kale and mangoes. And eggs are 88 cents for a carton of 18.
On average, the store sees about 42 customers per stop, selling about $880 worth of food in 90 minutes.
But for those involved, it's not just about sales — it's about broadening food access to those who need it, making sure seniors have protein in their diet or a little cilantro to brighten up a meal, Tussler said.
"People thank us," said the store's designated driver, Geoff Smeja. "It's probably the most fulfilling part of the job."