In April 2007, Capital
District Community Gardens launched another exciting, unique and
innovative project that connects people in need to healthy food
The Veggie Mobile.
The Veggie Mobile Program is sponsored in part by:
Senior Whole Health
Fruits and vegetables fill an important role in human life: feeding the
hungry belly. And they do so with nutritious goodness.
Fresh fruits and vegetables are key to a healthy lifestyle. But,
what if you live in a neighborhood where the nearest grocery store is
miles away and you don’t have a car?
The
Veggie Mobile is a produce aisle on wheels, run out of a
box truck, with refrigerators and shelves displaying fruits and
vegetables for sale. The truck was retrofitted to suit the needs
of the program by an amazing crew of multi-talented local volunteers.
Solar panels sit atop the roof to collect power to run refrigeration
units and other electrical equipment. The truck runs on biodiesel
and is equipped with an awesome sound system that plays lively music to
announce its’ arrival at our scheduled market stops.
The Veggie MobileMarket currently operates Tuesday through
Saturday with one hour stops at Senior Centers (assisted living),
public housing projects and other densely-populated locations in
Albany, Schenectady, and Troy. We offer tastings as well as
cooking demos at several of our stops where hundreds of residents can
come out and taste different fruit and vegetables and then purchase the
produce right on the truck at nearly wholesale cost.
Veggie
Mobile Schedule
2012
Winter Schedule
Effective
February 14, 2012
Day
Location
Time
Tuesday
Whitney
M. Young Jr. Health Center
920 Lark Drive, Albany
11:00a-12:00p
Ida
Yarbrough
270 N. Pearl Street, Albany
12:15-1:00p
Koinonia
Primary Care
533
Clinton Ave., Albany (at N.
Lake)
2:00-2:45
326
South Pearl Street, Albany
3:00-3:45
Wednesday
Thurlow
Terrace
2 Thurlow Terrace, Albany
12:00-1:00p
Cohoes
Senior Citizens Center
100 Cayuga Plaza, Cohoes
3:00-4:00p
North
Albany YMCA
616 N. Pearl Street, Albany
4:45-5:45p
Thursday
Van
Rensselaer Heights
460 Forbes Avenue, Rensselaer
10:45-11:15a
Renwyck
Place, 18 4th St, Rensselaer
11:30a-12:15p
St.
Sophia Greek Orthodox Church,
440 Whitehall Rd, Albany
12:30-1:30p
Capital
District Community Gardens
40 River St, Troy
2:00-2:30p
The
Kennedy Towers Senior Housing Development,
2100 6th Ave, Troy
2:45-3:45p
Carroll
Hill School
112 Delaware Ave, Troy
4:00-4:45p
Friday
South
Mall Towers
101 S Pearl St, Albany
11:00a-12:15p
Summit
Towers
720
Albany St., Schenectady
1:30-2:15p
Ten
Eyck Apartments
375 Broadway, Schenectady
2:20-3:15p
Hamilton
Hill Arts Center,
409 Schenectady St, Schenectady
To
find out more about the day to day operations, stories, and anecdotes
from our Veggie Team visit their new blog: The Veggie Mobile Blog.
To
find the Veggie Mobile location closest to you visit our Google
Maps site!
The
thought process…
An idea that
was tossed around and talked about for years was finally a reality; a
mobile market selling nutritious fruits and vegetables in underserved
neighborhoods throughout Albany,Troy,
and Schenectady.
The markets’ mission: to make healthy foods more affordable and
more accessible to low-income residents by selling directly to the
people, year-round at wholesale cost.
With CDCG’s Community Gardens and Squash Hunger programs successfully helping
to alleviate problems associated with local food security and access to
fresh foods, the Veggie Mobile has filled a critical need that exists in our
area cities: lack of grocery stores selling affordable fresh produce.
Now, The Veggie Mobile
serves our area’s inner city neighborhoods on a regular schedule
providing fresh fruits and vegetables where they are needed most.
The
Veggie Mobile
Project was made possible in part with a five-year grant from the New
York State Department of Health’s Hunger Prevention and Nutrition
Program. Additional funds are being raised from generous donors
throughout the Capital Region to help support the start-up and first year
operational costs for this innovative program.
Won’t you
join us by making a donation to support this unique effort to bring good
health and good food to neighbors in need? Please
make a donation today!
Volunteers
are also needed for a variety of tasks necessary to keep this mobile
market running smoothly. Currently we are seeking individuals with open
week days that can help with the day to day operations of the Veggie
Mobile. For information on volunteer opportunities with The Veggie
Mobile, check out our Get Involved page and
fill out our Volunteer Application.
