FareStart's Mobile Community Markets Promise Post-COVID Recovery Food Access for South King County Communities

by Amanda Ong

In an effort to double down on its hunger relief programs since the pandemic began, FareStart, a local nonprofit organization, launched its mobile community market in 2021 as a pilot program that would use "new ways to provide equitable access to fresh, healthy food to communities who are underserved, including those who have been impacted by systemic racism in food systems." The mobile community market makes weekly appearances rotating between the Kent YMCA, Firwood Circle, Living Well Kent, and Family of Grace. All food at the mobile markets is free.

"We have only seen an increase in the people coming to our markets lately. Already at the end of June, we had served more customers than we served all of last year," Emily Penna, innovation manager at FareStart, told the South Seattle Emerald. "Just because the headlines and the benefits have gone away doesn't mean that people aren't still experiencing hunger, and it's really more important than ever for us to be stepping up to support them. … The prediction [is] to continue seeing high hunger numbers for the next eight or nine years before they go back to pre-pandemic levels."

Penna herself plays a large role in organizing and running the mobile community markets and arranging their community partnerships. Along with working to increase food access, FareStart has training programs that help with job placement in the food industry. And as a social-enterprise-based nonprofit, FareStart generates much of its own revenue through businesses that are also supporting the community. From the local farmers it purchases from to the members of its distribution sites, community partners are a part of the foundation of the mobile markets and allow FareStart to invest back into the community in other ways.

"Our mission [is to] transform lives, disrupt poverty, and nourish communities through food, life skills, and job training," Penna said. "So that the people [who] are furthest from opportunity can realize their full potential. …. When we think about hunger relief, we're really looking at it both from meeting the immediate needs that our community has, and also thinking bigger picture and more long-term about our own local food system."

Those affected by hunger are disproportionately People of Color, LGBTQ+ people, and low-income people. These same groups often experience displacement to South King County, where FareStart's mobile markets are focused. FareStart offers a number of hunger-related services in South King County because so many residents have been pushed out of South Seattle and need resources.

"What's really important about the work that we're doing is we're helping to invest in the local food economy here," Penna said. "And we're helping to ensure that our communities are getting food that is good for them and food that they're interested in eating. "

This year, FareStart will also be merging its food-recovery program with the mobile market — in addition to purchasing from strategically identified farmers, it will also conduct gleaning operations with a number of partners to collect excess food, including 21 Acres, Oxbow, the Food Bank Farm, the Bellevue Urban Garden, and farmers markets around Seattle. These items will be incorporated and offered at the mobile community markets, reflecting FareStart's involvement in the full life cycle of produce locally, from harvesting to handing out that same produce to people at the market.

"Feeding people is a basic need. I think everybody deserves dignity, and meeting your basic needs is the bare minimum," Penna said. "[But] it's both the most basic thing, and then it's this revolutionary thing. We're not just doing the charity of feeding people. We're also trying to transform this system, in partnership with all of our farm partners and distribution partners."

FareStart hosts its mobile community markets twice a week on Thursdays and Fridays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., rotating each week between Thursday at Firwood Circle or Living Well Kent and Friday at Kent YMCA or Family of Grace. This week's markets will be at Living Well Kent and Family of Grace. To volunteer, check out FareStart's website.

Visit the FareStart Community market at Firwood Circle, 313 37th St. SE, Auburn; Kent YMCA, 10828 SE 248th St., Kent; Living Well Kent, 24604 104th Ave. SE #102, Kent; and Family of Grace, 31317 124th Ave. SE, Auburn.

Editors' Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that FareStart offers apprenticeships. This article was updated on 07/19/2023 to correctly state that FareStart offers training programs.

📸 Featured Image: FareStart's mobile food markets bring free produce to South King County communities. (Photo courtesy of FareStart.)