A Ride Along on the Grocery Bus
A Better Way Grocers mobile grocery bus is ready to roll on a rainy day in Albany, GA.
In April 2023, Invested Faith, in partnership with Good Faith Media, joined Tiffany Terrell to ride A Better Way Grocers mobile grocery bus in Albany, Georgia. Invested Faith Coordinator Anita Flowers and GFM videographer Cliff Vaughn rode along and captured photos and video of Tiffany as she drove the retrofitted bus around Albany to provide healthy produce and other grocery items to seniors and others who struggle with access to nutritious food. We interviewed Albany residents who shared with us the value of the grocery bus and the impact Tiffany has made on their lives.
Tiffany and her husband Tommie assist customers with healthy produce and other grocery items.
In the summer of 2019, Terrell looked around and realized that she lived in a community where grocery stores were closing and many residents had no access to food, especially healthy fresh food. After attending a conference and hearing stories of other communities working to address the “food deserts” that surrounded them, Terrell decided she had to do something.
In August of 2019, she and her husband, Tommie Terrell, bought a bus from Facebook Marketplace and, with the help of her stepfather, retrofitted it as a one aisle mobile grocery store. A Better Way Grocers was on the road.
A Better Way Grocers offers fresh vegetables and fruit to residents of Hudson Malone Towers in Albany, Georgia.
A Better Way Grocers focuses on providing food to those most in need of healthy, affordable food. Over 70% of the people served by the mobile grocery do not have transportation. “They often rely on places like the Dollar store, which sells mostly junk food, for their groceries.” Terrell told us that, in her research, she found that 61% of her clients had diabetes, 71% had high blood pressure, and 66% had high cholesterol, all diseases that are highly impacted by lack of a healthy diet.
Take a look at more of the pictures below; and keep an eye out for the finished video sometime in May!
Tiffany fills us in on the lack of access to healthy food in many areas in and around Albany, Georgia.
A Better Way Grocers carries fresh produce and grocery staples, offered at affordable prices.
Customers enjoy socializing as they select their fruits and vegetables.
Customers line up under cover to avoid the rain.
Tommie Terrell does a little work on the bus at one of the stops.
Closed grocery stores like this one can be found in food desert neighborhoods.
Tiffany and IF Coordinator Anita Flowers take a short photo break after the sun comes out.
Tiffany and Cliff prep for the interview portion of our trip.
