‘Folks just line up’: Lincoln Fresh food truck returns with free produce for community

LINCOLN, Neb (KLKN) – The Lincoln Fresh food truck is back, with free fresh produce for anyone who stops by.

On Tuesday morning, the truck made a stop at the Aging Partners Northeast Senior Center to hand out free fruits and vegetables.

Denise Howe, the manager at the facility, said many of their members are low-income, so it helps to supplement their food sources.

“Boy, it’s really popular,” she said. “Folks just line up, and the produce has been really great. They don’t have their gardens and stuff like they did when they were younger, and so having something come to them like this and making it really easily accessible is nice.”

One member, Philumena Moweryfavre, said the truck helps her to get the foods she needs to stay healthy, without having to pay for expensive produce.

“My girlfriend cooks a lot; we do eat a lot of fresh vegetables, as much as we possibly can,” she said. “We love it ’cause I was homeless for a long while, and with this extra food, that sure helped a lot with what we got. You didn’t have to cook or anything; you could just eat it right away.”

She said she’s been going to the truck for years and always comes by when it stops at the senior center.

Organizers said at each of the 14 locations in Lincoln, the truck will stay for an hour or two to make sure everyone goes home with a bag.

It stops at the same places every two weeks but has a different variety of produce each time. On Tuesday, there were bananas, green beans, apples, cucumbers, berries and peppers.

James Reilly, the Lincoln Fresh coordinator, said it’s a great way for anyone to get fresh food with no questions asked.

“I think it’s a very important service to the community,” he said. “If you’ve been paying attention, you know that groceries have been going through the roof. Inflation, just cost of living is hard to keep pace with. This service, being that it’s no questions asked, absolutely free, can really put a serious dent in those grocery bills.”

Reilly wants to encourage everyone to take advantage of the truck or donate to it if you can.

He said the Food Bank of Lincoln, as well as local grocery stores, help to keep it stocked, but the truck could always use more donations and volunteers.