In The News: MATA Partnership Boosts Healthy Food Access in Klondike & Smokey City

From the Daily Memphian: Neighbors chat during the bus ride to the Downtown Farmers Market, Saturday, July 24, 2021. (Photo by Lucy Garrett for the Daily Memphian)

In mid-July, the Whole Child Strategies team launched a new partnership with Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) to help create more access to healthy food for Klondike and Smokey City residents. Since July 17, MATA has been offering those residents free bus rides two days a week — Tuesdays and Saturdays — to the Downtown Farmer’s Market, Cash Saver and Catholic Charities.

Speaking to Daily Memphian reporter Omer Yusuf, Whole Child Strategies Executive Director Natalie McKinney said the initiative came together after numerous conversations with neighborhood residents wanting greater access to fresh food:

“Part of our work is unmuting the voices that a lot of these policies and systems impact,” McKinney said. “They are the best purveyors of data and information. They can give us the information that we need in order to inform how the very systems that impact them should be revamped or transformed.”

Read more about the announcement on the Daily Memphian website.

Here are the planned pickup locations and ride information: