Mobile Grocery Truck Offers Healthy Foods

On May 23, a unique “Mobile Grocery” enterprise will officially launch its services through a Grand Opening celebration in the Santo Domingo Pueblo in New Mexico. “MoGro” offers a variety of fresh fruits, vegetable and healthy foods and is designed to overcome barriers to affordability and access to healthy foods in rural American Indian communities and other underserved rural areas. It is the first mobile grocery unit of its kind to serve Native communities in the U.S. Southwest.

The Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health will be providing nutrition education and fitness promotion activities as part of the MoGro program.

The MoGro operation is a public-private partnership between Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, professional food distributor La Montanita Coop, and MoGro LLC.  Santo Domingo Pueblo is the first community to receive MoGro services. MoGro plans to expand to up to six pueblos by December 2012. The Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health in conjunction with tribal programs is offering semi-monthly nutrition and cooking classes and monthly fitness events to augment the impact of the MoGro Truck on the Santo Domingo Pueblo, and potentially subsequent tribal community partners in the future. 

The MoGro Truck Grand Opening will be located adjacent to the Santo Domingo Community Center, which is centrally located in Santo Domingo Pueblo. All activities and workshops are free of charge and are supported by funds raised by the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health. Supporters of the MoGro Truck initiative include the Kellogg Foundation, Newman’s Own Foundation, Simon Foundation, and private donors. 

For more information about the MoGro Truck, please contact Kristen Speakman at 505-400-6174 or Ventura Lovato at 505-797-3305.

Media contact: Tim Parsons, director of Public Affairs, at 410-955-7619 or  tmparson@jhsph.edu .