New Whole Foods Market® Location Rolls into Portland Today; Mobile Grocery Store is Focused on Improving Access to Fresh, Healthy Food for All

Portland, OR (PRWEB) June 02, 2014

On the heels of the recent store opening in Tigard, Ore., Whole Foods Marke t is thrilled to announce its ninth Portland-area location, a mobile grocery store called My Street Grocery. Operating pop-up markets from a refurbished classic trolley car, My Street Grocery travels to neighborhoods throughout Portland, with a mission to improve access to fresh, healthy food for all.

To mark the official launch of My Street Grocery, Whole Foods Market, together with its community partners, will host festivities and a bread-breaking ceremony starting at 11 am on Monday, June 2 at the Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center.

“I am incredibly proud that My Street Grocery is part of Whole Foods Market’s story in Portland. Our Team Members care deeply about building healthy communities,” said Joe Rogoff, Regional President for Whole Foods Market in the Pacific Northwest. “This mobile grocery concept is so powerful, allowing us to meet people wherever they are, and work with them to overcome barriers that are preventing them from making fresh, healthy food a part of their life.”

Four days a week, My Street Grocery sets up pop-up markets bringing delicious, affordably priced food directly to Portland-area neighborhoods where barriers to access include cost, mobility, transportation, language, cooking skills, and other life circumstances. Whenever possible, the mobile grocery store sources from the hundreds of local producers Whole Foods Market partners with in the Pacific Northwest.

My Street Grocery is the only mobile grocery store in Whole Foods Market’s organization. It represents a partnership between Whole Foods Market and local healthcare providers, social service agencies, faith-based organizations, schools and neighbors. These organizations believe there is great value in building healthy communities and share a vision that everyone should have access to fresh, healthy food.

Whole Foods Market’s “Food Access Coordinator”, Amelia Pape, works with each partner to address the very specific needs of the community. For example, Legacy Health’s clinic, Legacy Medical Group – Good Samaritan recognized the value of connecting patients with chronic diseases with access to fresh, healthy food. Supported by a grant from the Good Samaritan Foundation, the clinic provides patients with vouchers to purchase produce and groceries from the My Street Grocery pop-up market, which arrives on site twice a week. Additionally, Legacy Good Samaritan has health educators present during market hours who can answer questions and provide nutritional guidance and support.

“With My Street Grocery, we’ve designed a food access program for greater Portland that gains its strength from a coalition of like-minded partners,” said Amelia Pape, founder of My Street Grocery and Whole Foods Market Food Access Coordinator. “Collaborating with our growing network of passionate community organizations extends the reach of our program and allows My Street Grocery to make a more meaningful impact on the neighborhoods we serve.”

My Street Grocery is one component of Whole Foods Market’s commitment to making a difference in every community where it does business. My Street Grocery is a complement to Whole Foods Market’s Whole Cities Foundation. Both the Foundation and My Street Grocery are expressions of the company’s core values – “serve and support local and global communities” and “promote the health of stakeholders through healthy eating education” – in action, and embody the company’s commitment to food access for all.

The My Street Grocery trolley was designed to support Whole Foods Market’s commitment to sustainable and environmentally friendly practices. Many of the original elements and materials from the original vehicle have been repurposed to create the mobile retail store. The trolley, nicknamed “Molly”, runs on compressed natural gas (CNG), one of the cleanest burning alternative fuels available. Additionally, there are no plastic bags used at My Street Grocery, and recycling and composting receptacles are available to shoppers at the pop-up market location.

My Street Grocery pop-up markets are open to the public, and accept cash, credit/debit, and SNAP/EBT.

The current schedule for My Street Grocery includes the following pop-up markets.
Tuesday 10am-2pm
Legacy Good Samaritan Market
Legacy Good Samaritan Clinic Parking Lot, NW 23rd at NW Northrup

Wednesday 10am-1pm
Richmond Community Market
Where: OHSU Richmond Clinic Parking Lot, 3930 SE Division St

Wednesday 2-5pm
Boise-Elliot Community Market
Where: Legacy Emanuel Clinic Parking Lot, N Vancouver & N Graham

Thursday 10am-2pm
Legacy Good Samaritan Market
Where: Legacy Good Samaritan Clinic Parking Lot, NW 23rd at NW Northrup

Friday 11am-2pm
Rockwood Community Market
Where: Rockwood Community Health Center, 2020 SE 182nd Avenue

Friday 3-5pm
Old Town Community Market
Where: NW Couch St between Broadway & 8th Avenue

More locations will continue to be added to the schedule in coming months. Please visit http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/mystreetgrocery for the latest details.

My Street Grocery Information
Contact: Amelia Pape, Food Access Coordinator
Hours and Locations: Published at the My Street Grocery website
Web site: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/mystreetgrocery
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyStreetGrocery
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MyStreetGrocery

About Whole Foods Market®
Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market (wholefoodsmarket.com), is the leading natural and organic food retailer. As America’s first national certified organic grocer, Whole Foods Market was named “America’s Healthiest Grocery Store” by Health magazine. The company's motto, “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet”™ captures its mission to ensure customer satisfaction and health, Team Member excellence and happiness, enhanced shareholder value, community support and environmental improvement. Thanks to the company’s more than 78,000 Team Members, Whole Foods Market has been ranked as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” in America by FORTUNE magazine for 15 consecutive years. In fiscal year 2013, the company had sales of $12.9 billion and currently has more than 360 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

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