Community Grocery Combats Food Desert in McDowell County, WV

Walmart Left and the Community Stepped In

Charleston, Jan 12, 2021 (Issuewire.com) - The all-volunteer nonprofit Economic Development Greater East, based in McDowell County, WV is currently gearing up for the renovation of a building in 2021 in Kimball, WV is a community grocery. 

In 2016, Walmart closed in McDowell County, which increased local unemployment and decreased access to fresh food. Community groceries are nonprofit groceries that combat food deserts, places at risk for, or where larger retail food outlets cannot or will not operate. They have flexibility in funding and are accountable to their mission, rather than to shareholders.

Also in 2016, a group of local and committed citizens began to work together with all-volunteer on developing the always adjacent agricultural economy of the Pocahontas Coalfield, which straddles Tazewell County, VA and McDowell County, WV. Mountain Farm Community Grocery grew out of this work.

The group researched economic development potential, piloted mountain farming techniques in high tunnel production, fruit orchards, pastured and range poultry, maple products, honey, and meat goat production. It analyzed the robust ATV tourist market of the Hatfield-McCoy Trails, assessed EBT and farm to school capacity, and developed products for high sales volume. They also founded a nonprofit, Economic Development Greater East (EDGE) (www.edge-us.org), and a for-profit producers cooperative--SEEDH (www.seedh-co).

Together they designed Mountain Farm and Friends as retail, hospitality, training, and aggregation complex to be centered around a building in Kimball, WV as a beacon for food production, heritage skills, workforce development, recovery to work, and entrepreneurship. 

In 2018, they received a grant from the West Virginia USDA to renovate this structure for Mountain Farm Community Grocery. They began renovations in 2019, then Covid hit, slowing down the process for 2020. That year, they shifted to a partnership with a large regional nonprofit, Coalfield Development, to providing entrepreneurship and agricultural training for nine locals and will start a new cohort in 2021. By 2021, they also are doubling down their efforts to make Mountain Farm Community Grocery a reality.

They are seeking partners, local and regional vendors and producers, funders, foundation partners, equipment donations, volunteers, and additional funding to launch Mountain Farm Community Grocery. 

Learn more and share this video:

Mountain Farm Community Grocery

Like and follow the Mountain Farm Community Grocery campaign on Facebook by liking EDGE: https://www.facebook.com/edgeentrepreneur

Get in touch with EDGE and get involved with Mountain Farm Community Grocery by contacting Amelia Bandy at (276) 596-4002

Media Contact

Economic Development Greater East

[email protected]

2765964002

37 Valerie Street

http://www.edge-us.org

Source :Economic Development Greater East

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