Healthy Food Hub Opens in Spartenburg

Share On Social!

Many exciting food access initiatives are happening in South Carolina, where Latinos are the fastest growing minority population. In the city of Spartenburg, non profits and community leaders have transformed food desert areas by planting community gardens and doubling SNAP benefits at the farmers’ market. But folks in Spartenburg wanted to do more, so they have created Harvest Park in the underserved Northside neighborhood.

This ground-breaking shopping plaza represents all aspects of the food system. It will be the permanent home of the Hub City Farmers’ Market, which will now be able to operate year-round.  The urban farm at the rear of the property cultivates produce on a half-acre site, the bounty of which eventually ends up in the Hub City Farmers’ Market’s Mobile Market or the Butterfly Foundation’s Monarch Cafe and Food Store. Next to the farmers’ market pavilion is the Monarch Cafe and Food Store, offering produce for sale, freshly prepared meals, culinary training, and rental kitchen. The creators say that Harvest Park serves as a model of collaboration and determination to rid the community of a food desert.

These food hubs are growing more and more popular as folks see the need for more space to grow healthy food and space to educate, cook, and sell fresh foods. Greenville, another city in South Carolina, has plans to create their own “food hub” in the coming year.

Read more about Harvest Park and other South Carolina initiatives in this local news article.