Nearly 54 million Americans live in what the USDA calls low-access areas, meaning fresh, affordable groceries are miles away and usually require a car. In Memphis, about 32% of residents live in food deserts, where the closest real supermarket can mean a two-mile walk or a bus ride that eats into the grocery budget. Convenience stores and fast food fill the gap, and they’re higher in sugar, sodium, and saturated fat.
So volunteers stepped in. Denise Wilson, a fourth-grade math teacher, founded the Bronco Kare Korral Pantry at Winchester Elementary, where volunteers pack 60 to 70 free food boxes every week for students and families. The Works, a local nonprofit, runs a 20-foot mobile grocer that carries produce, meat, and dairy at prices comparable to full-service stores across a dozen weekly stops. It served 4,302 people in 2025, nearly double the 2,317 from 2024. Little Rock volunteers visited Memphis to learn the model and launched their own mobile market.
Roshun Austin, CEO of The Works, says mobile markets and pantries are bridges, not destinations. Memphis County has over 30,000 vacant and abandoned lots, and that blight deters grocery investment. The lasting fix, she argues, is rebuilding neighborhoods with housing and economic opportunity so supermarkets see a reason to return. It’s a pattern plenty of Florida communities would recognize, from empty plazas to long bus rides for a bag of produce. What’s the closest full grocery store to your neighborhood, and how do you get there?
