This is a weekly feature called Community Notebook, filled with snippets of information, conversations, and reporting about the communities where we work. Canopy Atlanta Fellows and other community residents may contribute to this weekly reporting. The Community Notebook is featured in our newsletter Voices — sign up to find this in your inbox every week.
More than a dozen people lined up in the nearly freezing temperatures on Monday morning, waiting to fill their bags with fresh produce and essential food items. Several took blankets offered by staff to ward off the cold as they waited in the parking lot of DeKalb County Public Library’s Scott Candler branch.
As metro Atlantans face reduced or no SNAP payments, the DeKalb County Commissioner’s Office and Retaaza, a private business making Georgia-grown food more affordable to Georgians, held their first of hopefully many DeKalb Farm Fresh Mobile Markets. Retaaza’s team set up shop with a sprinter van loaded with fresh produce and shelf-stable essentials. They offer 50% off EBT and SNAP purchases and a free $10 credit.
Clare Schexnyder, Community Outreach Director for Commissioner Ted Terry’s office, said that some people had already been “waiting for hours” before they opened the van doors to allow the line to fill their bags. From zucchini and jalapenos for $1.59 a pound to grits, cider, and peanut butter, the mobile market wants to take the stress of transportation and cost out of the equation for people looking to feed their families.
DeKalb commissioners met that morning to discuss extending the initiative, which had been funded through the end of the year.
“It’s bittersweet,” said Kashi Sehgal, founder of Retaaza. “I’m glad we can provide this service. But eating is a basic human right.”
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