Singer John Legend announced a free shuttle service in his hometown of Springfield, Ohio, that takes residents in the city's underserved south side neighborhood to the nearest Kroger, according to the Springfield News-Sun. Springfield’s last grocery store on the south side, also a Kroger, closed last month...
[Starting] Saturday, March 7 [, the shuttle] will pick up [and return] residents [from/to]n the parking lot of the closed Kroger ... from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m on Wednesdays, and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on [weekends].
Legend says he partnered with city officials [and] The Abilities Connection, a non-profit program that will run the shuttle service.
h/t kosak alamancedem
Dive Insight:
[The limited schedule may mean limited help to area residents with jobs or other conditions that make the timing or length of roundtrip unfeasible.] In a video update this week, Legend said he and city officials are doing everything they can to bring a grocery store back to the area.
In the ongoing [food desert battle, some local government, companies and nonprofits favor shuttle services]. Lyft offers $2.50 rides to consumers in 15 cities through itsGrocery Access Program. In Hartford, CT, insurance companies Aetna and The Hartford offer free shuttle service, while in Lousville, KY, Kroger [launched a Zero Hunger Mobile Truck] last year.
Legend’s alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, used a similar program to help students get to the nearest grocer. At Yale, a summer pilot was so successful, the college made it [permanent, year-round]. Organizations have rolled out a variety of ,,, food desert solutions, from mobile markets to tiny grocery stores in shipping containers, with mixed success.
,,,Walmart is running a pilot program in Arizona in which autonomous vehicles pick up shoppers and deliver them to their local store.
... The U.S. Department of Agriculture kicked off an online purchasing program in New York state last year that covers the cost of food but not delivery and service fees. Amazon and Walmart are among the retailers participating in the program, which expanded to Washington state in January.
[Food deserts currently impact] an estimated 37 million Americans.
