Mobile market offers fresh fare, a fresh chance

Moreh White says he became homeless after a string of temporary jobs and imprudent spending left him unable to pay rent.

But last week, he stood behind a counter in a trailer, hawking fresh fruits and vegetables, and embracing his unlikely role as an advocate for healthy eating.

White, 39, said he knows a regular diet of fresh food can be expensive and inconvenient, and feel like an uphill battle.

But now, he said, "the mountain comes to you."

A resident of the Good Samaritan Shelter in Phoenixville, White is part of the inaugural crew of the Nourish Mobile Market, a shelter initiative to give jobs to the homeless and expand access to fresh food to those in Chester County who might not have it.

Since last fall, the market - a trailer hooked to a pickup truck - has sold more than 7,800 pounds of produce, and given White and other homeless men more than 950 hours of work. The effort has been so successful, it's drawn attention - and support - from the American Heart Association.

Mobile food markets operate nationwide in rural towns, in large cities, and in between. The nonprofit Greensgrow Farms has operated mobile food markets in Philadelphia since 2011. Last year, it set up in Germantown and West Philadelphia, and at the Central Library on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Chester may be one of the state's richer counties, but it has its share of poverty - about 31,000 people below the poverty line in 2012, according to county projections.

Enter Nourish Mobile Market. Five days a week, it motors to spots across the county to sell its wares. Among its destinations: A senior center, a hospital, and a nonprofit that provides free day care to single parents attending school.

"It benefits the entire community," said Bob Lynch, a Penn Township resident, who bought peanut butter and an orange at the mobile market as it sat outside the Kennett Area YMCA one sunny afternoon this month.

Painted with colorful fruits and vegetables, the 8- by 20-foot trailer is filled with rows of apples, grapefruit, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, and other produce. Blueberries sell for $2.69 a pint; bananas are 69 cents per pound.

The shelter buys the food from Kegel's Produce, a wholesaler in Lancaster, and local farms through donations from foundations and the public. It also raised $20,000 in seed money during an open house in September.

All told, Good Samaritan has invested more than $150,000 in the business, and hopes the market can be a revenue stream.

"We've taken a real leap of faith," said Keith Misner, Nourish Mobile Market's business manager.

The American Heart Association found out about the market and helped it connect with six area YMCAs, including those in Coatesville, West Chester, and Uwchlan Township, through a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention push to prevent chronic diseases in local communities.

When the market becomes profitable, Misner said, he hopes it can be a model for other nonprofits. But the primary purpose now is to help homeless men get back on their feet by giving them a job. The market pays shelter residents between $12 and $15 per hour.

White said he has fun in the trailer, chatting with customers and encouraging taste tests, reveling in his role as a distributor of healthy food to local communities. Next to his register is a woven basket with cash inside - a "Pay It Forward" fund to help people who come up a few bucks short at checkout.

He hawks the produce with the verve of a hotdog or beer vendor at a Phillies game.

"It's an absolute blessing to be a part of this," he said. "The community is literally nourished and supported."

mbond@philly.com

610-313-8207@MichaelleBond