Vegetables of Mass Destruction Discovered In Urban Neighborhoods, Food Gap Under Siege

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Urban Fresh supplies locally-grown fresh food to underserved neighborhoods in Louisville, Kentucky. Founder, Sayheed Asante, pulled together a group of like-minded young people who were focused on transforming their lives and improving their community. With the support of the nonprofit Community Farm Alliance (CFA) and Grasshoppers, a farmer-run distribution center, Urban Fresh now hosts farmer’s markets in low income neighborhoods in Louisville’s West End.
West Louisville, an urban community, is home to 80,000 people including 27,000 children, 38% of whom are living below the poverty line. Statistically, across Jefferson County, there is an average of one grocery store per 6,100 people. In West Louisville, that average is one store per 20,000 people. And many West Louisville residents report poor product variety, low quality, and higher prices. In fact, the Community Farm Alliance conducted a Community Food Assessment in our major urban areas confirming that low-income residents pay 10-40% more for food.
There are many convenience stores in West Louisville, however the Community Food Assessment found that only one-fourth of them sold all five basic food groups and none sold leafy vegetables and very little fresh fruit. Nearly all of the stores sold alcoholic beverages.

And improving their neighborhood in more ways than one -

Prior to the Farmer’s Market, the area was filled with residents too fearful for their safety or the safety of their children to use the park.
In just three weeks, residents were on their front porches, children were in the park and citizens from surrounding neighborhoods were coming for fresh foods and entertainment.