City, Ozarks Food Harvest working on community food center

The Springfield-Greene County Health Department, Missouri Job Center and Ozarks Food Harvest are partnering on a plan for a community food resource center in Zone 1.

Jon Mooney, the health department’s administrator for chronic disease prevention, said the team seeks an appropriate site and funding for the project.

“We thought this was a really good opportunity to provide more emergent and immediate food needs for people,” he said. “It’s something that’s worth exploring and there could be a great benefit to the community.”

Part of the city’s Zone Blitz campaign, Mooney co-chairs the Food Access team with Bart Brown, president and CEO of Ozarks Food Harvest.

Mooney said the campaign’s goal is to have the food center in operation within 18 months. However, a location - either constructed or leased - would first be required in addition to an estimated $250,000 to $500,000 in funding.

“We have the concept in place, we have the partners in place, so it’s really coming up with the funding and also the facility,” he said, noting foundations could be a source.

The center would provide free healthy food products - delivered by Ozarks Food Harvest - to low-income people in the poverty-stricken district. The Missouri Job Center also plans to set up a training center within the facility. The job center has a mobile career center, and its brick-and-mortar training location is at 2900 E. Sunshine St. A center on the north side would essentially become a satellite location.

The team currently is looking for property in an area stretching from Grand Street and Division Street, as well as Kansas Expressway and West Bypass.

The initiative is based off a successful project in Oklahoma City.

“We see it holds a lot of potential,” Mooney said.