WE'RE PREPARING FOR THE 2024 SEASON!
Times and locations are TBD for 2024
Committed to providing locally grown & culturally relevant food
EXCITING NEWS AND A REQUEST FOR YOUR HELP
The Amherst Mobile Market is growing and on the move.
As of this January the market has incorporated as its own stand-alone nonprofit organization- allowing it to be even more flexible, innovative, and responsive to the needs of our diverse neighbors experiencing food insecurity. Equally exciting, the Market has successfully secured funding from both the Federal ARPA and CDBG programs to fuel its efforts over the next two year. However, this funding does not fully kick in until 2025.
Here’s where you come in. We need the help of our community to bridge this funding gap and allow the market to be all it can be for this growing season.
Click the button below to give online or mail a check to Amherst Mobile Market, PO Box 1045, Amherst, MA 01004.
OUR PURPOSE
The Amherst Mobile Market not only makes affordable produce available within walking distance of residents who struggle to access healthy food, but also puts decision-making in the hands of low-income, BIPOC community members and builds the capacity of those community members to take on leadership roles.
While the challenges around food access in Amherst are ever present for some, others may be unaware that nearly all of Amherst's census tracts are designated as "food deserts" by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, meaning that they contain high concentrations of residents who are both low-income and live more than a mile from the grocery store. Residents without vehicles, who constitute 11% of Amherst's population, often report that it can take up to two hours to get to and from the grocery store by bus, and that expensive cab rides are often required for the trip home to prevent groceries from spoiling.
THE PROBLEM BY THE NUMBERS
97%
of Amherst residents live in a USDA designated food desert
1 IN 4
Amherst residents is low income and lives more than a mile from a supermarket
11%
of Amherst residents lack access to a vehicle
82%
is the difference in heart failure hospitalization rates between Black and White residents of Amherst
OUR SOLUTION BY THE NUMBERS
25+
Amherst residents representing food desert communities engaged in a multi-year planning process
14
Amherst residents from food desert communities were employed by the mobile market in 2020
2
Amherst residents from the community the market serves have now worked at the AMM for four years
12+
Amherst area farms sold their produce through the mobile market in 2020
5,000+
affordable, organic produce items sold in 2020
400+
individuals were served by the mobile market in its pilot year
91%
of 2020 survey respondents said the mobile market facilitated access to fresh, healthy food
71%
of 2020 mobile market customers had an annual household income of under $50,000
