Waco’s World Hunger Relief farm works on projects to combat hunger around the world. And in Waco, the farm has created community gardens in vacant lots and local schools. As KWBU’s Jill Ament reports, the farm is getting ready to launch a new local project – aiming to make fresh fruits and vegetables an affordable and mobile commodity.
Dr. Pamela Rivera is a pastor at St. Luke church off of Elm Ave. in East Waco. She’s checking out the vacant lot behind the church— two small city plots—overgrown patches of floor tile and concrete slabs are all that’s left of the building that used to be here.
Now St. Luke has a community garden in the vacant lot and they’re planning on using the site as a parking spot for the World Hunger Relief’s latest project – a mobile veggie van.
“We want to be the best stewards of this land that we can possibly be and use it for good,” Rivera said.
The van will sell fresh fruits and vegetables grown at the World Hunger Relief Farm and from community gardens like the one behind St. Luke, bringing nutrition to one of Waco’s largest ‘food deserts.’
22-percent of people living in East Waco don’t have a car. And the nearest grocery store to St. Luke is the HEB on Valley Mills, which is four miles away.
“I said to the members, you know, God gave us all of this land," Rivera said. "And we’re just doing nothing with it. I don’t think that’s pleasing. We’ve got to do something.”
The van will sell vegetables to customers who have cash or a credit card. But the World Hunger Relief Farm is also working on getting a grant from the USDA that’ll let customers use their SNAP benefits to get a 50-percent discount on produce.
Matt Hess is the executive director of the World Hunger Relief Farm. He says bringing SNAP benefits will get more East Wacoans using the van—about half of East Waco households use SNAP.
“It’s definitely only one step in the whole right direction," Hess said. "But we feel it will give people who haven’t had any opportunity, some opportunity.”
East Waco has a 48.2 per cent poverty rate – the highest in the city. And people living there have the lowest median household income in the city – averaging a little under $17,000 per year.
Baylor graduate Kelly Oliver is an intern for World Hunger Relief and the Waco Health Department. She’s spearheading a lot of the mobile Veggie Van project. Oliver, who grew up in Waco, says this issue is very near to her heart. She wants to make sure it’s a learning experience for the community.
“If I’m just coming into a community and teaching them about health but not giving them the tools and the resources to know how to do it," Oliver said. "There’s going to be a big barrier there.”
For Pastor Rivera, much of this process is spiritual.
“It’s hard to tell people how good God is, if they’re hungry, " River said. "Or if they’re not getting the right nutrition and they’re sick. And they can’t pay attention. So we’re grateful to be a part of this process to be more conscious of our temples.”
The Veggie Van is set to launch on January 14th. They’ll have blessing ceremony at St. Luke that evening, followed by a week of opening ceremonies including a ribbon cutting at the Farmers Market and a day of service on Martin Luther King day. After that -- the van will be parked in the St. Luke lot every Wednesday. Hess is hoping to get more locations around town lined up for the van to park by April.
