St. Louis County Library addresses food insecurity with produce boxes at three branches

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - You may have noticed long lines of vehicles outside several St. Louis County Libraries this fall.

During the months of October and November at three St. Louis County Library branches, they give out produce boxes every Thursday.

"We have a lot of programs at our programs where we support people who might be experiencing food insecurity in the region," said Kristen Sorth, Director and CEO of the St. Louis County Library in Total Information A.M. "We have after school meals and summer meals and then a couple of years ago in the middle of the pandemic, we started having produce boxes and so we continued to that practice post-pandemic."

Sorth says the every time the County Library does a produce distribution, demand has been high.

"There's never enough boxes of produce," said Sorth. "Most of the time, they are out of boxes like shortly after the drive through opens."

"We saw that demand during the pandemic, but it continues, and we also have a lot of food deserts in our region and so sometimes, there's not the ability to get fresh produce easily and so that's another thing that makes these so important."

Sorth says they'll continue the program as long as they have partners and donors who help.

Families who are interested in picking a produce box from the St. Louis County Library can head over to the St. Louis County Library branches on Florissant Valley, Lewis & Clark and Weber Road.

Boxes are distributed curbside in branch parking lots every Thursday in those months except on Nov. 28 beginning at 8:30 a.m.

There is a limit of one box per vehicle, and supplies are limited.