Founder and CEO of Common Ground Mobile Market and Mobile Food Hub Donna Pearson McClish was the guest speaker at the March meeting of the Sedgwick County Grassroots Democrats.
SCGD invites to its monthly meetings local leaders in business, education, the arts, health care and non-profit organizations, as part of its ongoing effort to connect with the Sedgwick County community and its voters. In the March meeting, members learned about a solution to an issue that SCGD believe is crucial: assuring that all people have access to fresh, affordable food.
McClish told members that the non-profit Common Ground Mobile Market and Mobile Food Hub supplies fresh produce to as many as 28 senior centers, as well as to people in Wichita’s low-income communities. Using a van as the mobile food hub, Common Ground was able to deliver more than 1 million pounds of fresh food during the recent Covid epidemic. Its van can often be seen at “food deserts,” or areas of the city where residents have limited access to fresh food.
The organization’s motto is, “All are fed. No one is hungry.”
Common Ground’s fresh produce comes from the Pearson family farm north of Wichita. It also gathers food products from local farmers. The organization’s aim is to ensure that farmers receive an equitable price while still offering affordable products to customers. Currently, Common Ground’s fresh food distribution only exists in Sedgwick County. But that may soon change. McClish said the organization hopes to see mobile food hubs in all Kansas counties.
In its effort to expand, Common Ground also coordinates with Sunflower Community Action, an affiliate of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Popular Democracy. Sunflower Community Action’s mission is to “take action for racial and economic equity.
In addition to being a member of a multigenerational farm family, McClish is on numerous boards and committees, including the Kansas Farmers Union, the Sedgwick County K-State Research and Extension Board and the K-State Research and Extension Professional Development Committee for Community Vitality. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly also appointed McClish to the Kansas State Board of Agriculture.
Text and photo by David Jensen.