In order to address food deserts in the local area Food for People, the Food Bank for Humboldt County, planned two special pop-up Mobile Produce distributions this October.
Food deserts are areas where residents’ access to affordable, healthy foods - especially fresh fruits and vegetables - is restricted or nonexistent due to the lack of grocery stores within convenient traveling distance. In many local areas this is an all too real issue. According to the Wild Rivers Outpost "Klamath residents do their grocery shopping in Crescent City, traveling over two-lane U.S. 101, battling tourist traffic in the summer and toppled trees and landslides in the winter. In February a slide shut the road down for about 12 hours, cutting the community off from the rest of the county, including its supermarkets." Read more on the current food desert concerns in the Klamath area. Access the full story here.
Food for People already runs a Mobile Produce Pantry – a refrigerated truck full of fresh fruits and vegetables that is driven to specific locations across Humboldt County on a monthly schedule to address food needs in rural areas of our community. With extra days in the schedule in October Food for People decided to plan to popup distributions to target additional area’s currently experiencing limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
Working with the Yurok tribe Food for People brought our free Mobile Produce Pantry to the Klamath area to distribute free produce to eligible families and individuals on Tuesday, October 29th from 10 AM to 1 PM at the Klamath Community Center, 219 Salmon Avenue. The following day, Wednesday, October 30th, the Mobile Produce Pantry vistited the Manila Community Park from 10 AM to 1 PM.