CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte nonprofit has found a unique way to bring fresh fruit and vegetables to food deserts in the Queen City with the use of public transportation.
The Bulb serves as a bridge between small, Charlotte-area farmers and people who struggle to access fresh foods where they live. Those areas are called food deserts, and they're places where there aren't a lot of grocery stores, and the existing stores don't have much variety of fresh foods. They also tend to fall in areas where transportation to outside food options is limited.
The Bulb distributes locally grown foods and excess produce to people who can't find it easily. The organization operates at farmers markets at 11 different locations in Charlotte. Most of these markets are located in food deserts, including a market located at an easily accessible location at the Charlotte Transportation Center in Uptown Charlotte.
"It's just a shortage and a disconnect in the distribution," Ebonee Bailey, the executive director of the Bulb, explained. "That's where we come in; to make sure those who don't know where their next meal is coming from or are stressed or worried about getting to the grocery store. We come in and make it accessible."
The operation is also a win for local farmers.
"We're working with local farmers, purchasing food from them, as well as rescuing food from Trader Joe's," Bailey said. "That's what we're bringing to the market."
So how big of a need is there for something like the Bulb's markets? The staff's size doubled in 2020, as did the number of people they're serving.
"It should be every day," one man said. "It should be every day."
The man, who is a frequent shopper at the weekly Uptown market in the Charlotte Transportation Center, isn't alone in thinking the free market needs to be more regular.
"This is a beginning," he said. "It's one day, let's try two days. Let's try every day."
Bailey agrees and said the foot traffic at the Uptown market has been "amazing." But they need help paying for things because they give the food away, only asking for donations when possible.
That's where Wooden Robot, a popular brewery in South End, comes in. The owners were donating to a handful of charities but realized they could have a bigger impact by focusing on just one. So they decided to sponsor some of the Bulb markets.
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"We really are involved with local agriculture," Dan Wade, Wooden Robot co-founder, said. "We use a ton of local products for beers and we wanted to find a way to have our charity partnerships tie in that local focus."
In addition to the Charlotte pop-up markets, the Bulb also delivers food to some people's homes. The organization says it is looking to expand all of its services as soon as possible.
Contact Michelle at mboudin@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.