It’s known as “Fresh 2 You,” a partnership between the city of Little Rock, Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, Mosaic Church and an organization of produce farmers called Raising Arkansas. The groups have come together to make it more convenient for residents not near supermarkets to purchase fresh produce.

 The pilot project is an outgrowth of the Mosaic Church’s Vine and Village ministry, which provides food and meals for those in the university district of the city. 

 "We’re in the middle of really a pilot program with this," said Paul Kroger, executive director of Vine and Village for the Mosaic Church. 

 "And so, we’re again grateful for Mayor Stodola just having confidence in us and giving us access to this bus as you say that we retrofitted and that we’re able to turn into this mobile market. So, we’re available on Tuesday at a variety of locations here in the city. And on Saturday our focus is what we call food deserts. Places that don’t have ready access to fresh fruit and vegetables and so we want to service them first," he said. 

 The produce is grown by a group of farmers who have formed Raising Arkansas. Johnny Pettis is president and says this project provides an important market for the farmers.

 "It’s a blessing, give God the glory to partnership with the Hunger Relief Alliance and to thank Kathy Webb to identify Raising Arkansas as the vendor over the bus program," Pettis said. 

 "So, the bus as we travel throughout Arkansas, certain zip codes at the present time, It gives a market, you know an everyday market on Tuesdays and Saturdays for some of our growers.

 "Through the help and technical support of the University of Arkansas we’re able to grow year-round so we’re growing indoors and working with our growers and with some technical support to be able to grow year-round so it’s continuous," Pettis explained. 

 James Jackson is a resident of Parris Towers, one of the regular stops for the bus. He says this provides an important service for many of his neighbors. 

 "You’ve got people in wheelchairs you know, don’t have vehicles, that have to walk and you’ve got older, elderly people you know," Jackson said. 

 "This is convenient. Trust me when I tell you, they should not only have this one but they should have others. It's a lot cheaper and the vegetables are fresh. All of it is fresh and they give you a good deal on it. And the people are kind. They take their time out to come into our neighborhood and bring fresh produce and you just don’t see that every day."

 The relationship between the Hunger Relief Alliance and the farmers is one reason the program has been successful. 

"We’re very fond of Johnny and the farmers in this collective," said Kathy Webb, executive director of the Alliance. 

"One of the Alliance staff members is on the board and it was really important to us that we work with local farmers and I think it’s wonderful that Raising Arkansas is trying to get more African American young men involved in farming and also they’re doing a lot of outreach now with Hispanic farmers.

"I want to make sure the farmers have the capacity to provide the produce and then I would love to see a fleet of buses going all over the state. I think that would be really exciting. We’ve got a lot of food deserts all across Arkansas and we’ve got a lot of farmers who are growing produce and it would be wonderful to marry those two and make it a win-win for everybody in the state," said Webb.