{"id":63403,"date":"2025-04-14T01:00:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T08:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/civileats.com\/?p=63403"},"modified":"2025-04-14T16:04:47","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T23:04:47","slug":"at-these-grocery-stores-no-one-pays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/civileats.com\/2025\/04\/14\/at-these-grocery-stores-no-one-pays\/","title":{"rendered":"At These Grocery Stores, No One Pays"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/div>

More than 50 people stood outside the Enoch Pratt Library\u2019s Southeast Anchor branch on a recent spring morning in Baltimore. Parents with small children, teenagers, and senior citizens clustered outside the door and waited to hear their ticket numbers called.<\/p><\/div>

\n

They weren\u2019t there for books\u2014at least, not at that moment. They came to shop for groceries.<\/p>\n

Connected to the library, the brightly painted market space is small but doesn\u2019t feel cramped. Massive windows drench it in sunshine. In a previous life, it was a caf\u00e9. Now, shelves, tables, counters, and a refrigerator are spread out across the room, holding a mix of produce and shelf-stable goods.<\/p>\n

Every fourth Friday, Pratt Free Market turns into \u201cPantry on the Go!\u201d, a farmers\u2019 market-style setup outside the library that offers fruits and vegetables. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

That day, as staff and volunteers took their stations, shoppers walked in and filled their bags with what was in stock. On any given day, there\u2019s a range of produce, like collard greens, apples, onions, radishes, potatoes, and cherry tomatoes, plus eggs, orange juice, rice, bread, and treats like cookies and peanut butter crackers. As they exited, shoppers did not need to pull out their wallets: No one pays at Pratt Free Market<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Launched<\/a> in the fall of 2024, Pratt Free Market opens its doors every Wednesday and Friday and serves around 200 people per day. Anyone can pick up food at the store without providing identification or meeting income requirements. The library-based free grocery store was pitched by M\u2019balu \u201cLu\u201d Bangura when she started her role as Enoch Pratt Library\u2019s chief of equity and fair practices. The idea stemmed from the food insecurity she saw during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing people hungry just never sat right with me,\u201d said Bangura. \u201cPeople shouldn’t have to stress about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Trump administration\u2019s rampant cuts across government agencies have heightened concerns about the future of food security in the U.S. In March, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) cancelled<\/a> two local food programs that connected small farms to food banks and schools.<\/p>\n

Republican lawmakers have also proposed significant cuts<\/a> to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a critical resource that helps low-income consumers purchase food. Economists also say that President Trump\u2019s recent tariff policy on major agricultural trade partners<\/a> will only cause the cost of food to rise\u2014during a time when food prices were already projected<\/a> to increase.<\/p>\n

The combination of slapping tariffs on food trade partners and cutting aid programs seems like a perfect way to exacerbate an ongoing hunger problem in the U.S. In 2023<\/a>, one in seven households faced food insecurity at some point in the year. For Baltimore residents, 28 percent<\/a> reported experiencing food insecurity last year\u2014twice the national average. Bangura described a time when a group of nurses came to Pratt Free Market on their lunch break, looking to pick up some food. She says that other working people have done the same.<\/p>\n

\"radishes<\/a>

On a recent Friday, the Pratt Free Market was stocked with radishes, apples, onions, eggs, salad mix, and other grocery items. (Photo credit: Sam Delgado)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

Free grocery stores, like food pantries and community fridges, offer food at no cost to community members. But unlike other food charity models, free grocery stores often put more emphasis on the physical environment and service.<\/p>\n

Just like regular markets, these dedicated spaces are bright, open, and filled with shelves and fridges holding a mix of food and household items, and customers choose what they want. A traditional food pantry may not have an appealing atmosphere, and community refrigerators have limited space and choices. By simulating the grocery store shopping experience, the free stores offer more than just food; they create space for dignity, too.<\/p>\n

Pratt Free Market isn\u2019t alone in this model<\/a>. While some free grocery stores\u2014like Unity Shoppe<\/a> in Santa Barbara and World Harvest<\/a> in Los Angeles\u2014have been around for a while, others have popped up in recent years, including The Store<\/a> in Nashville, Today\u2019s Harvest<\/a> just outside Minneapolis, the UMMA Center\u2019s<\/a> Harvest Market<\/a> in Chicago, and San Francisco’s District 10 Community Market<\/a> and Friday Farm Fresh Market<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Pratt Model<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>

The groceries that line the shelves and refrigerators inside Pratt Free Market vary from week to week, depending on who drops off food. Bangura says the vast majority of their food is purchased from a variety of sources, including the Maryland Food Bank<\/a> and Plantation Park Heights<\/a>, a local urban farm. The market sources its non-perishables and household or personal items, like deodorant, from Blessings of Hope<\/a>, a Pennsylvania-based food redistribution organization.<\/p><\/div>

\n<\/div>
\"Raquel<\/a>

Raquel Cureton, a program assistant at Pratt Library, stocked the shelves at Pratt Free Market before doors opened to the public. (Photo credit: Sam Delgado)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

\n

The funding for these purchases comes entirely from donations to Pratt Library, which are then split amongst the library\u2019s different programs and initiatives, including Pratt Free Market. The library also receives donated food from Leftover Love<\/a>, a Baltimore nonprofit that rescues food from local businesses that would otherwise go to waste.<\/p>\n

On really good days, Bangura says, the market offers a mix of everything\u2014from healthy, fresh produce to sweets like donuts. And every fourth Friday, the marker turns into \u201cPantry on the Go!\u201d, a farmers\u2019 market-style setup outside the library that offers fruits and vegetables. Last month, Bangura said they handed out onions, sweet potatoes, watermelons, celery, and apples.<\/p>\n

As with most philanthropic efforts, volunteers are at the heart of Pratt Free Market\u2019s operations. Gwendolyn Myers, a retiree who lives in the neighborhood, has volunteered with the free grocery store since they opened. She sees her work as a way to give back to her community, and she even brings extra bags of food to her elderly neighbors who aren\u2019t able to leave their homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cA little bit of food, it helps,\u201d Myers said. \u201cTimes are hard, and they\u2019re going to get harder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, In Nashville<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>

About 700 miles from Baltimore, in Nashville, Tennessee, The Store<\/a> has the look and feel of a grocery store\u2014it\u2019s well-lit, spacious, and stocked with an even mix of fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy, alongside shelf-stable items like oatmeal and rice. It even offers items like flowers and greeting cards. And just like at Pratt Free Market, its shoppers pay nothing.<\/p><\/div>

\n<\/div>
\"Inside<\/a>

Inside The Store in Nashville, which looks and feels like a regular grocery store. (Photo courtesy of The Store)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

\n

With funding coming from grants, corporate sponsorships, fundraising events, and individual donors, The Store also purchases most of its food, with a small portion donated. Sarah Goodrich, The Store\u2019s operations director, says they source their food and ingredients from partners like Second Harvest Food Bank<\/a>, the national produce distributor FreshPoint<\/a>, and various local farms.<\/p>\n

The Store opened in March 2020, during a distinctly difficult time for Tennessee and the country at large. Days before their launch, a deadly set of tornadoes<\/a> devastated parts of Nashville and Middle Tennessee. Then, the staff received more difficult news: a nationwide lockdown was in place as the pandemic upended everything.<\/p>\n

But the back-to-back adversities didn\u2019t stop The Store from helping people access food. \u201cWe very quickly had to pivot our model,\u201d said Mari Clare Derrick, The Store\u2019s volunteer director. They switched to delivering food, and in that first year, served over a million meals.<\/p>\n

Five years later and in spite of a tumultuous start, The Store\u2019s doors are still open. People with incomes up to twice the federal poverty level<\/a> can enroll to shop there. Participants are then split into a bi-weekly schedule, and each group alternates every other week. Over email, Goodrich added that more than 870 households are currently enrolled, and while the program is full, they\u2019re working to expand their capacity by establishing another location.<\/p>\n

Goodrich says that the \u201csecret recipe\u201d for solving social problems, like hunger, is collaboration and partnerships. The Store has dozens of \u201creferral partners,”<\/a> or organizations that work closely with vulnerable populations, like families transitioning into housing, formerly incarcerated individuals, and victims of domestic violence. These partner groups can refer their clients and patients to The Store, which can guide their shoppers to these organizations for help as needed.<\/p>\n

Community Connection<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>

Having the institutional backing of a Baltimore public library made it possible to launch the Pratt Free Market. \u201cBecause this is under [Enoch Pratt Library], I’m able to build partnerships with community organizations who want to come in,\u201d says Bangura. \u201cThey want to work with us, and they want to bring their volunteers.\u201d<\/p><\/div>

\n

Taking advantage of its affiliation with the library, the Pratt Free Market aims to connect shoppers to other library-run social initiatives, like Project ENCORE<\/a>, which helps formerly incarcerated individuals re-enter society, and additional wrap-around services, including in-library social workers, lawyers, and housing navigators.<\/p>\n

Unlike other food charity models, free grocery stores put a little more emphasis on the physical environment and service. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Using the library\u2019s resources means access to a large and consistently available space, and the ability to offer more food and serve more people than a smaller intervention like a community refrigerator could. Having a market also allows the community to give feedback about what\u2019s offered, unlike with a community fridge<\/a>. (The library does have a community refrigerator at three other branches, all stocked with produce from Maryland-based Moon Valley Farm<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Shopper input is a key part of the free grocery store model. When stocking the store, Bangura considers what products seem to be popular, including non-food items. \u201cMy dream and vision was always that this would look like a mini grocery store,\u201d said Bangura. \u201cMany grocery stores have things like deodorant, dish detergent, and soap.\u201d She added that Pratt Free Market has a feminine hygiene dispenser, supplied by organic menstrual product company Femly<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Having a welcoming, communal, in-person space has also allowed for relationships to be built between free grocery store staffers, volunteers, and the communities they serve. Goodrich says that store organizers listen to their shoppers and conduct surveys to learn what foods and items to purchase.<\/p>\n

A Disconcerting Future for Food Security<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>

As the Trump administration dismantles federal food and hunger assistance initiatives, advocates see the impacts, and they\u2019re troubling.<\/p><\/div>

\n<\/div>
\"\"Everybody<\/a>

The “Everybody Eats” sign at Pratt Free Market. (Photo credit: Sam Delgado)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

\n

\u201cThere are millions of children living in food-insecure households,\u201d said Alexis Bylander, interim child nutrition programs and policy director at the Food Research and Action Center<\/a> (FRAC). \u201cThis is just a really terrible time to end those kinds of programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

On top of cuts to the programs, the consumer choices<\/a> of SNAP recipients have also been a topic of discussion among policymakers. Representative Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) posted on X<\/a> that it wasn\u2019t the government\u2019s responsibility to \u201cpay for someone else\u2019s soda.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want a soda? Get a job and go buy it yourself,\u201d Mace wrote.<\/p>\n

Though Mace alludes to SNAP recipients choosing \u201cunhealthy\u201d foods, restricting options for beneficiaries does nothing to address affordability or accessibility, says Salaam Bhatti, SNAP director at FRAC. \u201cIf your goal is for people to eat healthier, you have to understand that the healthier food is the most expensive food in a grocery store,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you really want people to buy better food, then increase the SNAP benefit, because right now, it’s only an average of $6 per person per day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that I\u2019m going to cure world hunger. But I could help one person eat their next meal. And that\u2019s enough for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Trump administration\u2019s ongoing and looming funding slashes haven\u2019t affected The Store and Pratt Free Market directly because neither receive federal dollars. But cuts to critical food assistance and welfare programs could force more families to seek aid at philanthropic food initiatives like free grocery stores\u2014and stretch resources thinner than they already are.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s particularly concerning in the context<\/a> of rising grocery prices<\/a>, which has been an ongoing problem<\/a> since the pandemic began in 2020. Not all the increases stemmed from higher demand; some resulted from the intentional decision<\/a> of major food manufacturers, retailers, and commodity growers to raise prices higher than the rate of inflation, says Errol Schweizer<\/a>, a grocery store industry expert.<\/p>\n

This price inflation is \u201cnot just a profiteering issue, it’s a food apartheid issue . . . and that it’s made people so much more food insecure,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Free grocery stores won\u2019t solve hunger or its various root causes, and the people who lead these initiatives know that. But these spaces can play a crucial role in responding to local needs and gaps in real time, while offering a safe, dignified space.<\/p>\n

As a dozen shoppers at a time perused the offerings at Pratt Free Market, they filled their bags with snacks and food and made pleasant conversation with staff and volunteers.<\/p>\n

Sylvester Foster just started coming to market in the last couple weeks after some friends mentioned it to him. On his third visit, he noticed volunteers struggling to bring a new refrigerator into the store. So, he ended up helping them, and then started to help with other tasks, like breaking down boxes. In exchange for his spur-of-the-moment volunteer work, he got to shop at the market early.<\/p>\n

“I gave [the volunteers] a hand, and I ended up getting myself early. So it was a 2-for-1,” Foster joked. “It’s very useful,” he added about the market. “My thing is, you got to utilize whatever you get.”<\/p>\n

The store is modest, and still has challenges, like accessing more food to offer, says Bangura. But even so, for hundreds of Baltimore households a week, Pratt Free Market plays an active role in easing the financial pressure of affording groceries.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t think that I’m going to cure world hunger,\u201d said Bangura. \u201cBut I could help one person eat their next meal. And that’s enough for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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