The 2026 KC Farmers Market Passport is Off and Running!
Food Access Team Members Represent Cultivate KC at the 7th Annual Mobile Market Summit
Every year during spring break, Florida provides families and students with much needed revitalization after the long, dark winter months. Palm trees and blue skies welcomed another group this spring. Cultivate KC’s Food Access Program Manager, Lauren Weinberg, and Dotte Mobile Grocer Specialist, Anne Harris, were among those who joined virtually and in person to learn and share how to better meet the needs of their respective communities while building stronger, more resilient food systems.
Max Culp of the Best Route, Anne Harris, Roberta Cosentino of The Best Route
The Mobile Market Coalition, partnering with Hebni Nutrition, who operate the Fresh Stop bus, hosted the 7th Annual Mobile Market Summit. The event took place March 19-20 at University of Central Florida‘s downtown campus in Orlando, Florida and was sponsored by Heart of Florida United Way. The Summit offers resources, research, and fellowship to a broad range of mobile market operators and advocates.
Following the welcoming address and the Annual Brag Bash, keynote speaker, John Rivers, CEO at 4R Restaurant Group and 4Roots Farm, delivered the keynote address, The Power of Platform: Making a Difference Where You Are. In his address, Rivers emphasized the importance of bringing passion and purpose to your work. He celebrated the fact that we all arrive at our work from different places and circumstances, bringing different skill sets and gifts. Choosing to share our gifts and passion in our work locally while keeping an eye on the larger context can expand our influence beyond the positive change we initiate at home.
The summit offered nearly 20 sessions and learning opportunities including the return of the Mobile Market Rodeo. There was content to address any challenge or situation that a mobile market program may face. Some of the sessions that Anne participated in were:
- What is success? Quantifying Mobile Market Accomplishments in a Community Context
- Mobile Markets from the Public Health Perspective
- Storytelling as a Tool for Mobile Market Advocacy
- Strategic Planning for Local Food Access
- Diversity is the Key to Reach and Success
From advocacy to zoning, subjects were examined, picked apart, and reconfigured to provide a customized approach for every program in every community.
The resources and knowledge shared over the course of the summit created a tremendous experience. By focusing on action, attendees can return to work with replenished enthusiasm and momentum. After an extraordinarily tough start to the year for folks working to improve food access, the summit provided an opportunity to spend time with like-minded people, dedicated and tenacious, who refuse to quit fighting for equity, community and justice. We were reminded that hope is a choice as well as a call to action.
