ENCANTO, Calif. (KGTV) — For more than a decade, the non-profit Project New Village has helped bring fresh food to communities in Southeast San Diego.
Now, it's taking its mission on the road.
"Everyone needs to be taken care of. The growers of food, the makers of food, and those who consume it," said Diane Moss, the Managing Director.
Moss said their mission is to develop an equitable approach to addressing food insecurity in Southeast San Diego.
"Historically, this has been a community that's underserved by corporate and American entities," she said.
The non-profit runs a community garden and teaches neighbors how to grow food in their own backyards.
Before the pandemic, they operated a farmers' market.
"One day a week for a few hours was not enough time to serve the community," Moss said.
Instead of re-opening the farmers' market, the group decided to buy a mobile food market.
"We'll have more markets, more days of the week, more hours having this available for the community," Moss said.
The food truck will be stocked entirely with locally grown produce, including fruits and veggies planted by the organization in a community garden.
"Local being first because we want to contribute to our local neighborhood economy," Moss said.
She said they plan to start with five market sites across Southeast San Diego, Lemon Grove, and National City.
"We'll be along trolley lines. We'll be at places people visit, such as the YMCA, so we're making it convenient for people to buy products," Moss said.
The non-profit hopes to eventually have a fleet of farmers' market trucks to provide every neighborhood with healthy food options.
"Everybody saw those empty shelves during the pandemic. We won't have any empty shelves. We'll be out there every day making sure this food is available for people to buy," Moss said.
The organization plans to have the mobile market up and running starting next month. They accept food stamps and WIC benefits.
