Lexington’s Mobile Food Market celebrates 1-year anniversary. Here’s who it served
A rolling grocery store that travels to Lexington’s food deserts celebrated its one-year anniversary Friday.
The Lexington Mobile Food Market has exceeded the city’s expectations, consistently doing more business each month, city officials said at a Friday news conference at Emerson Center on Garden Springs Drive.
Started in November 2023, the mobile one-aisle grocery store has completed just shy of $100,000 in sales and more than doubled its monthly sales over the past 12 months. It has 24 sites throughout Lexington.
“It’s been a big success in its first year,” said John Rupp, a senior manager at God’s Pantry Food Bank, which manages the mobile market. The market has seen 7,257 total transactions over the past 12 months.
“Over 30% of those transactions were paid for using SNAP,” Rupp said. SNAP is the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, which serves low-income households.
“We are just picking up steam,” Rupp said. “We are always” looking for new neighborhoods and sites to try hosting the mobile market.
The mobile market has been able to reach many Fayette County residents who don’t have access to food and may not have cars to get to grocery stores, said Mike Halligan, chief executive officer of God’s Pantry.
“Hunger is growing by some 20% over the past 18 months,” Halligan said.
The needs are great, he added. The mobile market “demonstrates the power of public-private partnerships to successfully help individuals access food. “
How it works
The 60-foot trailer hits 24 active sites around Lexington Tuesdays through Saturdays, making around 60 stops a month. It offers such essentials as fresh fruits, vegetables, milk, chicken, beef, pork, deli meat, cheese, yogurt and a limited amount of household products like toilet tissue, detergents and cleaning products.
Busier sites get weekly visits. Less busy sites have access twice a month, city officials said.
God’s Pantry operates the van in partnership with Kroger, which provides the food.
The city invested $200,000 in start-up costs for the program, including some of the hard costs, such as the truck and trailer.
It’s cashless but does accept SNAP cards and other debit or credit cards.
The program was a recommendation of the 2020 Racial Justice and Equity Commission, which made more than 50 recommendations to address inequality in Lexington, said Tiffany Brown, the city’s equity and implementation officer.
“We knew food access would improve health outcomes in marginalized communities that do not have access to grocery stores,” Brown said.
Mobile food markets aren’t new to Kentucky.
Kroger launched a mobile market in Louisville more than four years ago in partnership with a local food pantry there. The program has made strides in addressing food insecurity in Kentucky’s largest city, Kroger officials have said.
To learn more about the market and its scheduled stops: www.lexingtonky.gov/MobileMarket
