Attempts to quench food deserts with fresh fruits and vegetables usually involve bringing out the big wheels. Farmers markets go mobile with refurbished buses, trolleys, trailers, and even bicycles. But Atlanta’s public transportation system, MARTA, has inverted this approach—the produce is coming to a transit station.
After a rider survey found that commuters were interested in better access to “fresh and locally grown organic produce,” Denise Whitfield, MARTA manager of retail development, started a campaign to bring fruit and vegetable vendors to Atlanta’s West End station by early spring. Thirty percent of Fulton County, home to the West End neighborhood, has been classified as a food desert by the USDA.
“We know that our particular riders and residents who live in that area typically don’t have access to cars, and we thought: How can we best get fresh product to the folks that we serve?” Whitfield said.
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