The Bottom-Up Revolution

Shelby Wild: Breaking Down Barriers to Local Food

Oct 12, 2023

Shelby Wild, executive director of Route One Farmers Market, talks about breaking barriers to local food in California's Lompoc Valley. Topics include increasing access to local food, offering EBT and Market Match, curbside pickup during the pandemic, launching a mobile farmer's market, and the power of strategic alliances.

39:58

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Shelby Wild

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Quick takeaways

Shelby Wild and her team at Route One Farmers Market aim to increase access and break down barriers to local food, providing resources like EBT and market match to the community.

Shopping at farmers markets, like Route One Farmers Market, not only offers fresh and nutritious produce but also supports the local economy and fosters community connections.

Deep dives

Increasing Access to Local Food

Shelby Wild Brown, the executive director of Route 1 Farmers Market in Long Park, California, aims to increase access and break down barriers to local food. The market, both a traditional farmers market and a nonprofit, offers customers both EBT and market match, making it a valuable resource for the community that brings together diverse communities. Shelby's market was the first in the area to offer a produce bag for curbside contactless pickup during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing local food to those under shelter-in-place restrictions. Additionally, the market launched a mobile farmers market to further improve access to fresh produce.

Introduction

2min

Gardening Enthusiast and Native Plants

20min

The Power of Partnering and Building Strategic Alliances

2min

Supporting Local Food Access for Lower Income Families

3min

Improving Access to Local Food

10min

Policy Change and Local Recommendations

3min

Shelby Wild is a mom, a lifelong gardener, and executive director of Route One Farmers Market in her hometown of Lompoc, California, which she started in 2018 after her neighborhood farmer’s market closed.

As both a traditional farmer’s market and a nonprofit, Wild’s goal for Route One Farmers Market is to increase access and break down barriers to local food in California’s Lompoc Valley. The market runs every Sunday and is currently the sole market for 50 miles of the central coast of California that offers customers both EBT and Market Match.

Wild and her team strive to make the market a place that brings together the diverse communities that call Lompoc home. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wild led her market to be the first in the area to offer a produce bag for curbside contactless pickup for all customers, distributing hundreds of bags of local food for those under shelter-in-place restrictions. Last year, they launched the first ever mobile farmer’s market in Santa Barbara County, and just recently, Wild was honored as Woman of the Year by her local Chamber of Commerce at their annual awards banquet.

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