For too many people in the area, the thought process behind obtaining healthy food extends beyond a quick, mindless trip to the grocery store. In fact, out of the entire University of Minnesota system, 9,000 students experience food insecurity in some way every day, the equivalent of nearly the entire population of UMD.

For some, finding healthy, sustainable groceries means miles of driving and dollar upon dollar of gas money spent only to arrive uncertain that vegetables will be fresh at all. In many situations, convenience stores are the only realistic option for miles around.This is a catalyst for food insecurity that seems to leave nutrition out of the question.

Food deserts are a problem that plague so many communities around the Duluth area. UMD social work graduate student and Bulldog of the Month Karl Becker did not let that problem go unnoticed. Becker saw this issue of food insecurity and used his internship with the UMD social work department as a platform to propose solutions that would lead to the Mobile Market.

Becker was first inspired to take action after having been made aware of the pressing food insecurity issues woven through Minnesota at the Food Justice Summit in 2019.

“I couldn’t believe this conversation was happening and I haven’t been part of it,” Becker said.

Becker began his internship observing how the seasonal Seeds of Success market worked. After becoming the production field crew lead, Becker spent the next summer evolving the market into a year-round project.

Once the pandemic hit, concern loomed for those experiencing food insecurity. Becker and others involved with Seeds of Success faced problems as to how they would make a market like this work in the midst of a pandemic, and so the Mobile Market came to be.

Becker took to UMD greenhouses, growing fresh food in its well-ventilated greenhouse and putting its yields on wheels. He drove the food to densely populated areas and in Becker’s words, “setting up shop” in a refrigerated van.

Karl Becker outside the mobile market. Photo courtesy of Karl Becker.

This four-wheeled grocery hub also gives benefits to those who need it. For example, the Pop Club, or the benefit for kids, allows that “anyone under 18 gets $4 worth of free food each market… free fruits and vegetables to try and encourage them to eat well,” Becker said. For families who are in need of an equitable solution to food insecurity, this truly does add up.

The Mobile Market has also included other departments in the initiative. Engineering students worked hard to improve the efficiency of the ventilation system in the greenhouse, enabling the Mobile Market to produce over 120 pounds of greens. Without the ventilation improvements, the Mobile Market would produce about 40 pounds of greens, according to Becker.

“My favorite part is giving food to the people who need it,” Becker said. Food can be taken for granted by those who have immediate access to healthy and sustainable food sources, but the ripple of good that can be done by providing this to people who don’t have it is immeasurable.

Becker said that awareness of the issue is the first step toward taking action.

“It may not be visible all of the time, but there’s a lot of students who go home to nothing, no food,” Becker said.

Setting this mindfulness into motion is the next step. Becker advises that the Bulldog community shop at the Mobile Market and support Champ’s Cupboard.

BOTM: Karl Becker puts fresh food on wheels with the mobile market