ALTON - The Food on the Move free grocery trailer will make a stop in Alton on Friday, July 26, 2024.
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At 2:30 p.m. on Friday, the trailer will park in the parking lot east of the FLOCK Food Truck Park & Bar. Community members are invited to come to the trailer, pick up food and enjoy a hot meal. The trailer will remain open until it runs out of food, and it will return on the final Friday of every other month.
“It's just an opportunity to bring the community together,” said John Michel. “It’s an opportunity to help individuals who maybe just need a little extra help. And we think it’s the ultimate demonstration of ‘Food is Love.’”
People do not have to bring any verification of income or proof of need. They can simply come to the trailer and pick out the food they want, from produce and proteins to milk, eggs and canned goods. The Soul Burger Truck from Belleville will also be onsite to provide free hot meals to shoppers.
The Food on the Move free grocery trailer is the result of a collaboration between AltonWorks, Food is Love and the St. Louis Foodbank. Michel oversees the operations of Soulcial Kitchen and Currency of Caring, two programs that aim to fight food insecurity in the St. Louis metro area.
The Currency of Caring program partners with restaurants around St. Louis. Diners can purchase tokens for $8, which are then collected until the Currency of Caring folks have enough to offer 100 free meals. They send a food truck, like the Soul Burger Truck, into an underserved community and pass out meals. According to Michel, they have given out over 14,000 free meals through this program.
Food trucks are an important part of Michel’s mission to fight food insecurity. He pointed out that 92% of soup kitchens closed in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic. He believes that by bringing food trucks and the grocery trailer into food deserts, it gives community members more access to food.
“We think these food trucks could be a potential, I don’t want to say full replacement, but they could be a great way for us to be able to reach people where they are,” he explained. “In America, we think about when people are struggling, mobility is a challenge, right? A lot of people just don’t have the means to be able to get to a place where food might be offered. So we’re like, we’ll do it easy. We’ll bring it to you…We go to all the hardest-to-reach places. There are no food deserts anymore, and it’s just an example of how we as a community can work together.”
Michel invites everyone in the community to come out on July 26 to show support for the grocery trailer. He added that the first Alton restaurant to participate in the Currency of Caring program will be announced soon; you can visit CurrencyOfCaring.com for more information. To stay updated on the Food on the Move free grocery trailer and its stop in Alton, check out the official AltonWorks Facebook page.
“We have resources in the community that when we think innovatively, work together collaboratively, we can absolutely increase the opportunities for those who are struggling,” Michel added. “The whole Food is Love team couldn’t be more delighted to be a part of the Alton community.”
If you are experiencing food insecurity, click here to learn about more resources in the Riverbend community.
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