1. The Memphis Green
Machine: A Mobile Food
Market for the Bluff City
Promoting Food Security in
Memphis’ Poorest
Neighborhoods
Saint Patrick Community
Outreach Center, Vance Avenue
Choice Neighborhood, U of
M, Healthy Memphis Common
Table, and MATA

2. Origins of the Proposal
 Memphis was successful in
securing a HUD Choice
Neighborhood Planning Grant
for the Vance Avenue
community
 The goal of this grant is to create
and implement a comprehensive
transformation plan designed to
improve the overall quality of
life
 Food access was identified by
local stakeholders as one of the
neighborhood’s top three
redevelopment issues at its very
first meeting in July of 2011

3. What do we know?
 Tennessee is 47th in
overall health
 4 of 10 top causes of
death within TN are
food-related
diseases
 Health challenges
facing the state are
most profound in
high-poverty areas
such as Vance
Avenue

4. Memphis: The Sahara of
Urban Food Deserts

5. A Snapshot of Vance Avenue
 Total population of 3,800
 Median income is less than one –
third that of the state
 Approximately three in four
families live in poverty
 Less than one in three families have
access to private automobiles
 Nearest groceries are located 2.5
and 3.0 miles from the
neighborhood
 Families are forced to purchase a
disproportionate share of their
groceries from local convenience
stores – not a great option!

6. Impressive Gains Achieved by the
Memphis Food Security Movement!
 Increase in community gardening
 New neighborhood-based farmers
markets
 Higher rate of CSA participation
 New efforts to attract full service
supermarkets
 Removal of cumbersome
regulatory barriers – UDC Changes
 Still, many poor families lack
basic access to
fresh, affordable, and culturally
appropriate foods, especially
fruits and vegetables

7. Why a mobile food Market?
Steering
Committee
Formation
Evaluation Creation of
Research
Design
Increasing Data
Awareness Choice Collection
Intelligence
Data
Analysis
Implement
the Plan
Visioning
Design of Design
Action Plan
Goal
Selection of Formation
Specific
Objectives

8. Community Nutrition Initiative
Immediate Intermediate Long Term
Year 1 & 2 Year 3 & 4 Years 4-7
Common Ground Garden Spring Health Fair Local Foods Initiative
Organized local parish Organize local community, Provide access to healthy
members and community health, and cultural foods and culturally-
residents to develop a organizations for an annual appropriate nutrition
cooperatively produced and spring fair where residents of information via a mobile food
managed community garden. Foote Homes have the store. Use this program to
Local re-entry program helps opportunity to listen to music, meet an initial need and
tend the garden in return for receive health information, demonstrate the existence of
fresh herbs. Youth sell canned participate in health a local market. Build upon this
items at South Memphis screenings, and get referrals to success to create a
Farmers Market. There is no local providers. cooperatively owned food
fence! store that could be replicated.

9. We have Oprah to Thank!
 Vance Avenue Choice Neighborhood
Initiative formed a Food Security
Taskforce under the leadership of
Cathy Winterburn to investigate “best
practices”
 Initial research focused on “pop-up”
retail stores
 Through Oprah Magazine the group
learned about Chicago’s highly
successful FRESH MOVES – mobile
food market
 The Taskforce subsequently contacted
Fresh Moves, established a
relationship and began benchmarking
and strategic business planning

10. FRESH MOVES in a Nutshell!
 Newly organized non-profit
dedicated to addressing food access
in Chicago
 Secured a retired CTA bus
 With the help of Architecture for
Humanity transformed it into an
attractive mobile food market
 Makes fifteen stops each week at
public and non-profit agencies where
they sell high quality, farm
fresh, fruits and vegetables to those
without access to full service markets
 Hopes to be self-sufficient in three
years.

11. The Green Machine Scheme
 Retrofit a MATA bus to serve as a mobile farmers
market and nutrition/wellness teaching/learning
space (ADA Accessible)
 Make regular stops (2-3 hours) at three locations
each day, within underserved city
neighborhoods, Mondays Through Fridays
 Sell high quality, farm fresh, culturally
appropriate fruits, vegetables, and dried goods
 Offer regular give-aways to encourage families
to try new (healthy) choices
 Also, provide attractive and easy to read
nutritional, health, and wellness information
and counseling
 Accept all forms of payment via a wireless EBT
system
 Make a serious effort to monitor and evaluate
the impact of the bus adjusting our goods and
services accordingly (participatory formative
evaluation)

12. The Green Machine

14. Getting the Bus Rolling in
Memphis!
 FRESH MOVES and AFH has provided
invaluable technical assistance regarding
adapting the bus, sourcing, staffing, and
pricing
 MATA has leased us a bus for $1 a year
and provided critical technical assistance
in terms of retrofitting, ADA
compliance, security, servicing and
advertising info
 St. Patrick Community Outreach Center
has agreed to manage the bus project
 Archer-Malmo has helped with
naming, branding, and promotion of the
bus

15. Additional Help From Our Friends!
 Looney Ricks Kiss has provided  Healthy Memphis Common Table
alternative retrofit designs and has has offered to serve as the project’s
prepared detailed construction fiscal agent
drawings  Mid-South Food Bank has agreed to
 Annie Bass, an African offer some free food items, nutrition
American/women owned firm, has education materials, as well as
agreed to undertake the actual supply and logistics assistance
retrofitting  Met with Tony Geraci of the MCS
 UT Nursing Program is providing regarding cooperation on siting and
health data, a workable evaluation education
framework, and nutrition education  Easy Way has agreed to work with us
materials as our primary supplier
 Channel Five, the Commercial  The City has agreed to help with
Appeal and the Memphis Flyer have siting, marketing, and electrical
provided excellent news coverage supply to reduce idling emissions
 Met with Urban Farms/BCDC to  Growing list of financial supports –
explore collaboration on supply The Community Fund and FedEX

16. Estimated Project Costs
Expenses Income
Bus Retrofit $60,000 Advertising $40,000
Start-up $15,000 Foundations $175,000
Launch $15,000 Corporate $75,000
Operations $250,000 Sales $60,000
Total Total $350,000
$340,000

17. THE PROCESS
 Finalizing market research using Population and Business Census
Data and GIS
 Tweaking the business model as a social enterprise with a Year
Four Break-Even Point
 Established An Advisory Group: SPOC, HMCT, U of M, and UT
Nursing (MSFB) to oversee operations
 Identified a physical home for the business: St. Patrick Learning
Center
 Finalize supply arrangements
 Complete the needed fundraising
 Determine initial routing and stops
 Recruit, hire, and train staff (Regional farmers and wholesalers)
 Prepare for launch (September 17, 2012)

18. Final Take – Our USP
 It addresses a critical need in a creative manner that has already been tested
 It emerged from a community-based and resident-led process (buy-in)
 A unique partnership of public, private, non-profit organizations have come together to make
it happen
 We have an experienced and able sponsor with inspired leadership – St. Patrick’s (50 years of
food ministry in the heart of the city)
 The University has demonstrated an ability to get these projects done (South Memphis
Farmers Market)
 The project is unique in its ability to become self-sustaining
 Advances other critical community development objectives: living wage
employment, neighborhood stabilization, place-making
 Its flexibility allows us to respond to changing needs; what if we get a store in Uptown –
Great! Shift the bus to another neighborhood!
 Potential to add new services: diabetes education and exchange; the bread truck?
 Lays the foundation for a community-based, neighborhood-controlled producer/consumer
food coop – WeBe’s (Inspired by DuBois call for a cooperative approach to economic
development within the African American community.

19. Routing Criterion
 Minimum density threshold – 1,000 family per
Census Tracts
 High poverty areas – Census Tracts exceeding
40% below poverty
 Distance from healthy food sources- full
service supermarkets, farmers markets and
Easy Ways
 High density affordable housing complexes
 Major arterials easy for buses to travel and
offering high visibility (Existing MATA routes)

24. 5 Weekly Routes
3 – 5 Stops Daily
1. Center City
2. South Memphis
3. Midtown East
4. Uptown/North Memphis
5. Raleigh/Frayser

35. ?

36. Funding Opportunities
Any we’ve missed?
 Community  Poplar Foundation  Reginald
Foundation  United Way Wurzburn
 Baptist Foundation  Memphis  John Dustin
 First Tennessee Leadership Buckman
 Assisi  International  Hope Christian
 Grizzlies Paper  Hershey
 Boardman  Rise  Rose
 Hyde  FedEx  Blue Cross Blue
 Plough  Autozone Shield
Foundation  Kemmons Wilson  BNSF
 Memphis Bioworks  Women’s
Foundation
 Belz Foundation

37. Advertising Opportunities
Who do you suggest?

38. For More Information
The Memphis Green Machine
A project of the Vance Avenue Choice Neighborhood
Initiative
Saint Patrick Community Outreach Center Inc.
277 South Fourth Street
Memphis, Tennessee 38126
901-527-2542
www.stpatsmemphis.org