Expanding healthy food access in South Memphis through resident-led design activities

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Since 2022, Innovate Memphis has partnered with several nonprofit organizations and community members to identify ways to improve access to healthy food and coordination between food systems. Past work includes a Food Rescue Landscape analysis to improve resource- and referral-sharing between food suppliers and donation sites, a prototype for an online food resource information hub, and community research on how to increase grocery delivery services for SNAP recipients in South Memphis.

This year, our Project Research Manager Angelica Carey collaborated with local nonprofit Knowledge Quest and South Memphis residents to determine key challenges to healthy food access and design projects that can help address these challenges. Residents participated in three design sessions to get from root-cause challenges to ideas to prioritized solutions. During the first session, the group participated in the World Cafe facilitation model, rotating through tables and topics to engage in small-group discussions on current barriers to food access as well as opportunities to address these challenges. At the second session, residents reviewed nine ideas for solutions that came out of the previous meeting and evaluated what factors could either enable or inhibit their success. This exercise led the group to prioritize three solutions to explore at the final session:

1) Organizing: Establish a community group to coordinate grocery deliveries for the elderly

2) Education: Provide classes that teach nutrition, cooking, meal planning, and shopping with SNAP benefits

3) Advocacy: Work with corner store owners to encourage them to offer fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables

Some bigger themes also emerged during these discussions. First, residents seek personalized, trust-based support. They are more likely to participate in support services with prior roots in their community and a consistent set of individuals and organizations they know. Second, education & outreach regarding resources like food should go beyond just disseminating basic information and hoping residents will use it. Working through established organizations and networks like churches and community centers can reach more people, as can hands-on education opportunities and incentives. Lastly, many Memphis communities including South Memphis still face systemic challenges getting local food retailers to provide more variety and healthier options. It will require collaboration across sectors, continued advocacy, and a deep understanding of suppliers’ current barriers to meet residents’ demand for healthier foods.

At the final design session, participants chose one of the three priority solutions above to focus on. They designed “headlines from the future” to imagine how a successful version of this idea would be reported in a magazine headline 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years from now. This activity helped the group establish short- and long-term milestones, and they also discussed how each resident and community partner could contribute to this success and address barriers currently in the way.

During each session, residents also received information on existing food assistance resources including grocery delivery services for SNAP-eligible households based on Innovate Memphis’ prior research. Other resources included nutrition incentive programs that can increase available SNAP dollars for healthy foods and information on Knowledge Quest’s nutrition classes, organic farm, and the newly launched Green Leaf Cafe. Green Leaf Cafe is located at 1025 College Street and open from 7:30am – 2:00pm to serve healthy breakfast and lunch options; the Cafe will sell produce from Green Leaf Farm in the future as well.

Knowledge Quest’s Research & Data Manager, Reginah Mako, and Impact & Strategy Manager, Deana Taylor, helped lead these community design sessions and are now working on a resource development plan to bring residents’ ideas to life. Innovate’s Applied Anthropology Fellow, Jordan Spuryer, also provided support with facilitation and analyzing residents’ contributions for actionable themes. We look forward to what’s in store for the South Memphis community and are thankful to be a part of the work with Knowledge Quest and neighborhood residents! 

This project has been supported in part by the Kemmons Wilson Family Foundation.