Mobile Pantry Serves San Diego County Food Deserts

Published On: January 22nd, 2018By Categories: Miscellaneous2 min read

Many people who live in rural areas of San Diego have a hard time accessing fresh food.  These areas are known as food deserts. The USDA defines a food desert as “neighborhoods that lack healthy food sources.” People facing hunger have trouble getting healthy food due to lack of transportation and being located far away from a grocery store.  This is where Feeding San Diego steps in.

Feeding San Diego’s Mobile Pantry looks to fill the meal gap for people living in these food deserts. The Mobile Pantry reaches communities from Jacumba Hot Springs, to Borrego Springs, and all the way up to Fallbrook. Some of these communities are nearly an hour and a half from the Feeding San Diego distribution center in Sorrento Valley.

Our Mobile Pantry drivers go out to these communities where they set up a farmer’s market style distribution. The truck pulls up to the site where volunteers immediately begin to unload food. Tables are set up outside of the truck, where the produce is stacked.  The driver then pops out an awning from the top of the truck to allow shade for those who stop by. Once everything is all set up, people are able to walk by the truck and get the nutritional food they need.

The distribution provides families with many different types of fruits, vegetables, and whole foods that they can take back to their families. This food is often paired with nutritional education, CalFresh outreach and other community resources that are relevant to their needs.

Since fresh produce can be hard to come by in these areas, oftentimes people get their food from the closest convenience store or mini-mart.  These entities do not provide the food choices that help keep people in good health.  As a result, those living in food deserts are eating food containing high amounts of sugar, salt, and preservatives. Eating these types of good have been linked to causing many chronic diseases and can lead to poor health.

Serving 16 different communities in food deserts every month, Feeding San Diego strives to make fresh and healthy food more available to the people who need it most. To learn more about our Mobile Pantry, watch our video here.