It can be a challenge to recruit — and sustain — full-service grocery stores in some rural and urban areas. Those barriers to fresh, nutritious food can be challenging for city leaders, who are working to find new or different ways to offer healthy food access for residents. Groceries can get to people in many ways, from dedicated delivery programs to simple farmers markets and donation initiatives.
In the City of Columbia, after a few grocery stores failed, the city council and the mayor began thinking about other ways to serve the so-called food deserts with healthy food choices.
“That's what led them to get a little more creative with a couple of initiatives the past few years,” said Payton Lang, policy and programs advisor to Columbia’s mayor. “They took two approaches, and I like to think of it as taking the groceries to the people, versus taking the store to the people.”
One of those initiatives is the Grocery Access Pilot program, a public-private partnership with Instacart to provide free grocery delivery through a complimentary Instacart+ membership along with a monthly Instacart Health Fresh Funds stipend to help cover fees.
To qualify, residents must be located in a designated food desert, meaning their home is at least a mile from a full-service grocery store, and they must be on some type of assistance, such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Once people apply and qualify, they receive a code for a year of free grocery delivery. The food access program has touched more than 200 households, with an average of five people in each home, Lang said.
At the same time, the city bought and upfitted an 18-wheeler to make a mobile market that is now operated by a local farm. Toms Creek Family Farms Mobile Market visits six locations through the week, bringing fresh produce to neighborhoods with limited access to grocery stores. It also accepts SNAP benefits and participates in the Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program, allowing qualifying seniors to use vouchers at any of the mobile market’s stops
Lang said city leaders understand the importance of bringing food access to all parts of Columbia — and the city’s role in that.
“No. 1 is that it’s a public-private partnership. Our whole city council has been big on the idea that everyone needs to have skin in the game. For example, we got Tom’s Mobile Market started. We were the initiator, but they are the sustainer, “she said. “I think the lesson learned is just listen to the community,” she said. “Everyone has their own preferences. Be mindful of that. So don't just do one approach, try multiple things at one time.”
Lang said the city is also continuing to work to provide information to grocery stores to show that communities need and would support stores, using data and patterns that show where groceries are being delivered in the community.
In the Spartanburg County City of Wellford, blessing boxes — standalone structures filled with nonperishable food and other items — are set up to serve people in need. The idea started with a councilmember years ago, and the police department has taken over the responsibility of keeping up with the boxes.
“We saw the need in the community, so we started filling them and keeping them filled on a weekly basis to try to make sure people had access to food all the time,” Wellford Police Chief David Green said.
The police department collects food from donations around the community. The largest source is a local school, which last year collected almost 11,000 canned goods at its food drive.
“It was pretty amazing,” he said. “And then throughout the year, the officers and people in the community will give toward the blessing box program. We also work alongside a local soup kitchen, and if they have more than they need they give it to us to put in the blessing boxes. It's kind of a collective of the community.”
And the community has been willing to step up to help. A recent plea on Facebook saying the blessing boxes were nearly empty resulted in people quickly showing up with food and money to refill them, he said.
The city’s ongoing involvement in the effort led to its recognition by the Municipal Association of SC for a 2025 Achievement Award in the Public Safety category.
Green said the need is great in his small but growing community, where housing rental costs have skyrocketed in recent years.
“If you have to spend money on rent or food, the choices are hard,” he said. “Especially for families, a couple extra hundred dollars a month goes a long way.”
The city has four blessing boxes that it fills an average of three times a week. Green noted the importance of putting the boxes in locations where families can easily access them, especially those without a reliable means of transportation. It’s an honor system, so people take what they need and leave the rest for the next person.
Green, who has been with the department since 2012 and chief since 2016, said his focus has always been about community interaction.
“One of the rebranding things we did was take on part ownership of this blessing box program so that it showed the community that we do more than just write tickets,” he said. “That's not
why we're here. We're here to serve the community in all capacities, and one of those is making sure our members are fed.”
The Town of Moncks Corner is one of many across the state to operate its own farmers market. The market here not only offers residents the chance to access fresh fruits and vegetables, it also helps strengthen the community, said Susan Gilmore, the town’s special events and farmers market manager.
The roots of the market started about 15 years on a gravel lot behind the school district where folks sold their produce. In 2015, the city opened the Market Pavilion at the Moncks Corner Regional Recreation Complex as a dedicated space.
The pavilion has covered spaces for vendors along with a grassy area where additional sellers set up tents. The farmers market is open from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. every Thursday from April through November.
She said the city has put out rocking chairs and umbrella tables to encourage people to enjoy being outdoors with their neighbors and purchase a meal from the food truck that comes to the market each week.
“Our market is just a happy place to be on Thursdays,” Gilmore said. “My goal, when I came on and took over the market, was that I wanted it to be a place for community. I kind of wanted a Cracker Barrel feel, because I want people to come and stay.”
The market offers fresh fruits and vegetables along with fresh eggs, honey and meat.
“It’s just a great place to stock up on healthy, good things,” she said. “For example, we have a local strawberry [grower]. She picks her strawberries fresh that morning, and there's a major difference in taste. In mid-October, we have lettuce and radishes. And just beautiful, fresh fruit.”
Gilmore said Moncks Corner has tried to be a resource for other areas looking at opening farmers markets, and she recommended other communities take advantage of the wealth of information available from the South Carolina Farmers Market Association.
“It's not a competition. We're all in it together,” she said.