How a School Bus Is Boosting Local Food

When Mark Lilly of central Virginia lost his job last year, he grabbed the opportunity to do something he'd been thinking about for a long time. He got some old barn wood, burlap, chicken wire and apple barrels and went to work rigging up an old-fashioned country store inside an old school bus.

In a class on emergency management and disaster science, he had been learning about the poor shape of our modern food system, and the idea had suddenly occurred to him: Wouldn't bringing fresh produce, dairy and meat straight from farms to the people who want it be a great way to support a local, sustainable food system?

Some six months ago, he started up his school bus and launched on a one-man venture called Farm to Family, which brings all manner of fresh and nutritious food from Richmond area farms to communities around the area. He communicates with customers via Facebook and Twitter (yet another way the Internet is helping local food bloom), telling them where he'll be when and queuing requests for visits.

So many people want him to stop by that he said he couldn't possibly cover them all even with ten buses. He's slowly expanding the business, though; he's bought another bus that he plans to fix up.

Meanwhile, he does what he can, building relationships with local farmers (including Joel Salatin of Omnivore's Dilemma and Food, Inc. fame), visiting schools to educate students about food and farming, and bringing his fresh foods to people around the area.

Lilly is breathing new life and excitement into the ancient practice of bringing the food straight to the people. While his concept is nothing new in the sweep of history, it's new to a lot of people in our industrial, centralized food system, and it's appealing. As Lilly said, “I’m just packaging an old system really nice."

Check out my longer article on Mark Lilly and Farm to Family, and keep your eye out for an interview with Lilly here on Monday.

Photos: Farm to Family