Nonprofit to bring mobile grocery stores to Little Rock

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A nonprofit is looking to address food insecurity in Little Rock thanks to a grant from the state.

Innovative Community Concepts plans on rolling out grocery stores on wheels after receiving a $10,000 grant from the governor’s office and the Arkansas Department of Health.

“This is something we feel the community will need from now on. We don’t see brick & mortars coming out to this area,” Innovative Community Concepts co-founder Angela Shaw said.

Standing on the corner of Ringo and Daisy Bates, there is not one grocery store within a mile of the location. This is called a food desert, and using the grant money, the nonprofit plans to address food insecurity in these areas.

Food deserts are typically found in lower-income neighborhoods, and Shaw said this is why these communities need affordable and healthy food.

Rhonda Kimble, co-founder of Innovative Community Concepts, said that while food can be delivered to these areas, the people need a grocery shopping experience.

“They want to feel their groceries,” Kimble said. “They want to look at them, they want to smell them.”

Shaw said these mobile grocery stores can be expected to start running in about a year.

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