Howard’s Roving Radish delivers fresh foods to areas that need them

26.06.2024 15:15

The Baltimore Sun

Bertha Carp rolled a wire cart through Owen Brown Place’s parking lot on a recent afternoon, stopping at a bench to examine the contents of her navy blue bag stamped with big, red letters, spelling out Roving Radish.

“Ain’t nothing like fresh vegetables,” Carp, 85, said while she revealed asparagus, lettuce, peaches and watermelon. A van marked with the same red letters displayed trays of produce behind her.

The van, known as the Roving Radish Mobile Marketplace, was created to expand on a marketplace in Columbia’s Long Reach Village Center that opened in 2021.

Roving Radish has partnered with about 25 farms in and around Howard County to offer meat, produce, meal kits and other locally sourced products for affordable prices to areas that are in most need of fresh foods. Food costs are subsidized by other purchasers, for people who need assistance.

The mobile market visits 12 areas in Columbia, Cooksville, Elkridge, Laurel and Ellicott City six days a week. These areas were chosen based on a data analysis of the areas within the county that demonstrated the most need for food, said James Zoller, Roving Radish’s program manager.

“Food insecurity isn’t going to be solved by one program,” said Zoller, who also serves as the county’s Agricultural Preservation Board executive secretary. “It’s a collective effort.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as a “household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to limited food.” In 2022, more than 32,000 people were considered food insecure in Howard County, according to data from Feeding America, a nonprofit network of food banks. That’s a rate of 9.7% in the county, which is lower than the 12.2% — or 749,260 people — who are food insecure in Maryland, according to Feeding America.

To Cathy Hudson, a member of the county’s Agricultural Preservation Board and the former owner of Morningside Farm, the Roving Radish program is able to supply a “tremendous food need” with “no stigma.”

“It’s a win-win-win to be able to get subsidized healthy food into communities that don’t have that as an option,” Hudson said. “We’re so far away from food security that it’s laughable.”

To qualify for an “exclusive membership” with 50% off all food items and a free bundle once a week, community members must have participated in at least one the following programs in the past 12 months: Food stamps/SNAP; Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program; Temporary Cash Assistance; Medical Assistance in Medicaid or Maryland Children’s Health; free or reduced-price school meals program; or Social Security disability income. A “regular membership” applies 50% off weekly special items.

Anyone who applies to be a marketplace member receives the same Roving Radish card, according to Zoller, and when the card is scanned discounts are applied to a purchase.

Discounted and free items are subsidized by people who pay full price for their products, Zoller added.

Since the mobile market’s first day on June 1, about 170 members have joined Roving Radish, Zoller said. Since its launch in 2014 the program has prepared more than 67,000 meal kits — boxes with recipes, meat and produce ingredients that makes four servings of a meal — 38% of which were subsidized, Zoller added. The market has served nearly 600 families (63% subsidized), while spending more than $800,000 at local farms.

While many people benefit from the program, Hudson said she also sees how it fosters community. People not only interact with their neighbors by visiting the mobile market, but also can connect with local farms, Hudson said.

“It just brings us together in a different way that a supermarket just doesn’t,” Hudson said.

For county residents such as Carp, having a van that brings the marketplace to her makes it much easier to eat affordable produce. Carp said she has to plan her shopping trips in advance to ensure she has a ride. Many times she misses out on buying produce, due to the high cost of supermarket offerings.

Carp said she “wouldn’t miss” the Roving Radish mobile market when it drives by her apartment complex.

“Everybody got nice vegetables today,” Carp said, watching the van drive away from her perch on a bench.

The Roving Radish Mobile Market visits the following locations:

Mondays
2:30-4:30 p.m., Howard County Library System East Columbia Branch, 6600 Cradlerock Way, Columbia
5-7 p.m., Swansfield Elementary School, 5610 Cedar Lane, Columbia
Tuesdays
2:30-4:30 p.m., Columbia Commons, 7601 Woodpark Lane, Columbia
5-7 p.m., Gary J. Arthur Community Center, 2400 MD 97, Cooksville
Wednesdays
2:30-4:30 p.m., Howard County Library System Elkridge Branch, 6540 Washington Boulevard, Elkridge
5-7 p.m., Laurel Woods Elementary School, 9250 North Laurel Road, Laurel
Thursdays
2:30-4:30 p.m., Owen Brown Place, 7080 Cradlerock Way, Columbia
5-7 p.m., Deep Run Elementary School, 6925 Old Waterloo Road, Elkridge
Fridays
2:30-4:30 p.m., Monarch Mills Apartments, 7600 Monarch Mills Way, Columbia
5-7 p.m., Stevens Forest Elementary School, 6045 Stevens Forest Road, Columbia
Saturdays
9-11 a.m., Hickory Ridge Place, 10799 Hickory Ridge Road, Columbia
11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Town & Country Apartments, 8732 Town and County Boulevard, Ellicott City

The Roving Radish mobile marketplace sells produce in the parking lot at the Elkridge Library located at 6540 Washington Blvd. on Wednesdays from 2:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. The library is one of 12 stops in Howard County where customers can pick up pre-ordered meal kits, fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, honey, eggs and meat.(Karen Jackson /Freelance)
The Roving Radish mobile marketplace sells fresh lettuce, radishes, squash and herbs grown on local farms.(Karen Jackson /Freelance)
Customer Katie Bingner, of Elkridge, looks over the produce for sale at The Roving Radish mobile van in the parking lot at the Elkridge Library located at 6540 Washington Boulevard . The mobile marketplace has 12 stops in Howard County where customers can pick up pre-ordered meal kits as well as fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, honey, eggs and meat from local farms.(Karen Jackson /Freelance)
Eric Laun looks at some of the vegetables for sale at The Roving Radish mobile marketplace in the parking lot at the Elkridge Library located at 6540 Washington Blvd. The mobile marketplace visits the library on Wednesdays from 2:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. with scheduled visits through out the week at 12 locations in Howard County.(Karen Jackson /Freelance)
David Brown stocks the pears in a bin at The Roving Radish mobile marketplace that stops weekly at the Eldridge Library located at 6540 Washington Boulevard ion Wednesdays from 2:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. The mobile market visits 12 areas in Howard County where customers can pick up pre-ordered meal kits, fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, honey, eggs and meat.(Karen Jackson /Freelance)
David Brown assists local residents Kathryn Allen and her daughters Margot Allen, 8, and Zaida Allen, 5, and Larry Eubanks, of Houston, TX, while they shop at The Roving Radish mobile market van in the parking lot at the Elkridge Library located at 6540 Washington Blvd. The mobile market has 12 Howard County stops Monday through Saturday where customers can pick up pre-ordered meal kits, fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, honey, eggs and meat.(Karen Jackson /Freelance)
Wendy McNeill, of Elkridge, left, leaves after buying a watermelon from The Roving Radish mobile marketplace in the parking lot at the Elkridge Library located at 6540 Washington Blvd. The library is one of the 12 weekly stops in Howard County where customers can pick up pre-ordered meal kits, locally grown fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, honey, eggs and meat.(Karen Jackson /Freelance)
The Roving Radish mobile marketplace sells locally grown produce, honey, eggs and meat at 12 scheduled stops throughout Howard County Monday through Saturday.(Karen Jackson /Freelance)
Tony Williams, Jada Williams, and Tonya Williams shop for local produce sold at The Roving Radish mobile marketplace in the parking lot at the Elkridge Library located at 6540 Washington Blvd. Customers can pick up pre-ordered meal kits, locally grown fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, honey, eggs and meat at the mobile marketplace at 12 stops throughout Howard County.(Karen Jackson /Freelance)
Kathryn Allen, of Elkridge shops with her daughters Margot Allen, 8, and Zaida Allen, 5, and her father Larry Eubanks, of Houston, TX, at The Roving Radish mobile marketplace van that sells fresh produce from local farms at the Elkridge Library located at 6540 Washington Blvd. on Wednesdays from 2:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. The mobile market has 12 Howard County stops Monday through Saturday where customers can pick up pre-ordered meal kits, fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, honey, eggs and meat.(Karen Jackson /Freelance)
Tonya Williams, Jada Williams and Tony Williams, of Elkridge, shop at The Roving Radish mobile marketplace in the parking lot at the Elkridge Library located at 6540 Washington Blvd. on Wednesdays from 2:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. The mobile marketplace visits 12 areas in Howard County weekly where customers can pick up pre-ordered meal kits as well as fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, honey, eggs and meat from local farms.(Karen Jackson /Freelance)
Katie Bingner, of Elkridge, reads the chalk board for weekly specials and products offered for sale at The Roving Radish mobile marketplace in the parking lot at the Eldridge Library located at 6540 Washington Boulevard. The mobile market visits in Elkridge on Wednesdays from 2:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. with 12 stops in Howard County throughout the week where customers can purchase fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, honey, eggs and meat from local farms.(Karen Jackson /Freelance)

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