Turnip Truck donates van full of local produce to Nashville Food Project

Nashville Tennessean

Carmel Kookogey, June 8, 2020

The Turnip Truck grocery store in West Nashville donated a van full of fresh produce to The Nashville Food Project on June 1. (Photo: Z Nelson)

To celebrate opening its third location in West Nashville, the Turnip Truck donated a van of fresh local produce to The Nashville Food Project on June 1.

Founded in 2001 by John Dyke, the Turnip Truck is a Nashville grocery store which sources its products from local producers. Turnip Truck COO Kim Totzke said due to the pandemic, they decided to donate to The Nashville Food Project in lieu of a grand opening for their new Charlotte Avenue location, which opened in March.

“The spirit of the Turnip Truck has always been about the community and with such crazy times and there being a real problem with folks having access to quality, healthy food, we felt it was really important to donate at this time,” Totzke said.

The Turnip Truck grocery store in West Nashville donated a van full of fresh produce to The Nashville Food Project on June 1. (Photo: Z Nelson)

Totzke said the van was “packed full of food” — entirely fresh produce — when they sent it to The Nashville Food Project from the Turnip Truck’s nearby Charlotte Avenue location.

“When there’s a food donation, typically it’s a lot of dry products,” Totzke said. “But the ability to get fresh produce is real important, especially with the pandemic. Fresh produce is a big part of making sure you’re healthy and taking care of yourself.”

The Nashville Food Project, is a non-profit that grows, cooks and donates food to the impoverished community in Nashville. The nonprofit has provided more than 35,000 meals in the wake of COVID-19 and the March tornadoes.

Read the article on The Tennessean here.