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DESIGNED WITH THE COMMUNITY, BY THE COMMUNITY, FOR THE COMMUNITY

 The North Memphis Food Power Plan was built through a year-long participatory process: organizing a steering committee, hosting focus groups and community actions, and gathering surveys and interviews across North Memphis.

 The process began by partnering with three grassroots organizations and forming a leadership body that stayed involved in the research every step of the way:

  • The Time Is Now Douglass – led by Executive Director Kathy Yancey

  • Black Seeds Urban Farm – founded by Bobby & Derravia Rich

  • G.A.M.E. Changers Movement – founded by Rachael & Vincent Spriggs

Organizing the Steering Committee

Phase: 1

 Focus groups took place in churches, parks, community centers, and at Black Seeds Urban Farm. Conversations were paired with hands-on actions like plantings and door-knocking to bring planning and practice together.

Focus Groups and Community Actions

Phase: 2

 To ground the plan in everyday experience, the team:

  • Collected 150+ surveys

  • Engaged 30+ residents in focus groups

  • Conducted 10 one-on-one interviews with resident food leaders

  • Knocked on 100+ doors across North Memphis

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Key takeaway block:
Residents told us:

  1. The community is already feeding itself through informal systems.

  2. There’s deep interest in growing and selling food locally.

  3. Transportation and high prices are major barriers.

  4. There is widespread support for a cooperative grocery model.

Surveying, Interviews, and Canvassing

Phase: 3

From Seeds to Systems – The Path to Food Power

Seeds to Systems: The Path to Food Power

 The transition from food apartheid to food power unfolds like a garden — in phases: planting the vision, growing the work, and harvesting collective ownership. This section outlines strategies for community food production and community food distribution.

Community Food Production

 North Memphis holds an agricultural legacy and is dotted with underused church-owned and city-owned parcels. With community investment, these plots can anchor a new generation of neighborhood growers.

Education & Workforce Pipeline

  • Partner with schools and community centers to teach youth food growing and business skills.

  • Offer job training and stipends for adults in farming, composting, and food preparation.

Black Farmers Brand

  • Aggregate produce from North Memphis Black farmers under a shared label.

  • Sell through CSAs, corner stores, pop-ups, and neighborhood markets.

  • Use revenue to reinvest in tools, transportation, and storage.

Leverage Church-Owned Land

  • Partner with churches to convert vacant land into urban farms and gardens.

  • Lift up sites like the Decatur Street Garden at Providence AME Church as models.

Vision block – “Harvesting Community Control”:

  • A garden on every block

  • Training and jobs in growing, selling, and preparing food

  • Churches as hubs of healing, food, and food power

  • North Memphis farmers owning the means of production, distribution, and profit

 Community Food Distribution

 Even when food is grown in North Memphis, getting it into households is another challenge. Lack of transportation, low incomes, and disappearing grocery stores make distribution a frontline issue. The vision is for North Memphians to control how food moves, how much it costs, and who benefits.

Strategies:

North Memphis CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture)

  • Community members subscribe to receive regular boxes of fresh produce.

  • CSA pickup hubs at churches, schools, and community centers.

  • Draw on models like New Roots (Kentucky) and FairShare CSA for sliding-scale shares and flexible payment plans.

Mobile Market or Farmers Market Pilot

  • A mobile truck or rotating farmers market moving through neighborhoods.

  • Offers fresh produce and pantry staples.

  • Employs North Memphis youth and features Black Farmers Brand products.
     

Long-Term: Community-Owned Cooperative Grocery Store

  • Prioritize affordability, neighborhood jobs, and democratic control.

  • Seek public investment and subsidies to keep prices low, drawing inspiration from city-backed grocery proposals in other cities.


Together, these strategies build toward food power, where North Memphians collectively decide what they eat, how it’s grown, how it’s distributed, and how it’s valued.

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