Twin Cities Mobile Market fills food gap with new site

“When a grocery store closes, we determine if a mobile market can be an adaptable response,” said Sophia Lenarz-Coy, executive director of The Food Group. “It’s not meant to replace a full-service store because we can’t carry everything they would, but we want to make sure folks in those neighborhoods have healthy options and don’t need to rely on convenience stores…. Losing that grocery store really changes the grocery landscape because there just aren’t any others nearby.”

The Food Group, which has operated the 11-year-old mobile market program since adopting it from the Wilder Foundation in 2020, replaced both of its inherited 20-year-old Metro Transit buses last year. The new buses are propane-powered, making them quieter and easier on the environment, and are a touch smaller and therefore easier to maneuver in urban settings. Together, they serve 10,000 people annually across 20 neighborhoods in the Twin Cities that don’t have full-service grocery stores. In addition to the new downtown site, the Mobile Market has long operated at 516 Humboldt Ave. on the West Side most Thursdays, from 2:05-3:05 p.m.

This access to fresh and affordable produce, meat, grains and other food is a lifeline for people who struggle to find transportation or face mobility challenges. In the summer, some of the produce is sourced from local farms, and specific cultural items can be requested for stocking.

“Offering culturally connected foods is something we value highly,” said Lenarz-Coy. “It’s something we see a lot of our farmers growing. Food can almost have magical powers. It’s so healing, it builds community and, especially for folks from other cultural traditions, seeing food that’s familiar really helps them see that they belong.”

The Food Group also operates Big River Farms along the St. Croix River near Maple Island, Minn. It’s an incubator farm that provides plots for emerging farmers – most of whom are people of color – and hosts conferences and other learning opportunities for farmers. The nonprofit also organizes monthly Fare for All programs at more than 30 pop-up sites in the state, including at Central Square in South St. Paul and at the West 7th Community Center. The affordable grocery program offers meat and produce packs for individuals and families at up to 40% off retail prices. Inventory is limited and available first-come, first-served. The next event in South St. Paul is 4-6 p.m., Tuesday, July 22, and the one at the West 7th Community Center is 10 a.m.-noon, Friday, July 11.

According to the recently released 2024 impact report from The Food Group, the nonprofit provided more than 7 million meals to communities statewide last year, up more than a million from 2023. It distributed more than $7.4 million to 275 food shelves statewide to help keep their shelves full and lights on. This reflects the historic demand seen at local food shelves in the past five years. In 2024, more than 8.9 million Minnesotans visited a food shelf, shattering the record of 7.5 million visits set in 2023, and dwarfing the 5.75 million visits made in 2022 and 3.6 million made in 2021. Overall, annual visits to food shelves are about 150% higher than they were before the pandemic began in 2020.

“I think there’s some kind of misconception that folks who are struggling and use a food shelf can get all the food they need for free, and that’s just not true,” said Lenarz-Coy. “Everyone needs retail options.”

Last year, the advocacy group Hunger Solutions became the Food Group’s advocacy branch pushing for food justice efforts at the state Legislature. The merger has increased the network of food shelf and meal program partners for the nonprofit from 244 to over 500 and expanded its service area from 30 counties to all 87 counties in the state.

Today, Lenarz-Coy said the Minnesota legislature is considering reducing how much SNAP money people can receive. SNAP recipients currently receive about $5.16 per person per day for food.

“We’re hearing from a lot of people at the mobile market that grocery prices are going up everywhere and those limited SNAP dollars already don’t go as far as they used to,” she said.

Those looking to get involved in food justice can visit The Food Group website for volunteer opportunities such as packing Fare for All meals and reclaiming food at farms and farmers markets that would otherwise be wasted. In 2024, nearly 2,300 volunteers rose to the challenge and collectively gave 16,175 hours, and collected about 19,000 pounds of produce at the Minneapolis Farmers Markets and 4,600 pounds of produce from farms.

The nonprofit dates to 1976 when it was called the Hennepin County Emergency Food Shelves. It was renamed the Emergency Foodshelf Network in 1986 and became The Food Group in 2014. Notably, in 2024, it piloted a program that operates farms in large solar panel fields, earning the Environmental Initiative Award in Minneapolis and the 2024 Solar Farm of the Year Award at the Solar Farm Summit in Chicago. Lenarz-Coy is a Minnesota native and has worked with The Food Group for about 15 years, including the past six as executive director.

“Something that really draws me and keeps me in the work is that food [insecurity] is pretty much a solvable issue,” she said. “There are lots of things or injustices in society that are difficult or require a ton of money to solve. The truth is, we have plenty of food, we just need to focus on some distribution challenges.”

The mobile market will be at the downtown and West Side sites on July 10. A full menu of what’s in stock can be found at thefoodgroupmn.org/groceries/twin-cities-mobile-market by clicking “groceries we carry.”