By Mars Johnson, Reporter
OMAHA, Neb. – In The Union for Contemporary Art’s parking lot, anyone takes food with the expectation that no money comes out of their pockets.
For about four months, a stand full of food has been available for anyone in need of food on a biweekly schedule. The farm stand is in collaboration with organizations including City Sprouts, Global Roots, and Pop-Up Oasis who help provide fresh food for free.
The Union for Contemporary Art’s events and project manager, Kat Fackler, said the fresh food is free to make sure people don’t miss a fresh meal just because they cannot afford it.
Keeping a garden has been a part of the union from the beginning–even when moving from their old building to their current one in 2017.
“When we moved to this building it was like okay well we gotta keep this garden going, so that’s kind of where the abundance garden came about,” said Fackler.
The Union for Contemporary Art aims to contribute to food accessibility.
“It’s important to connect people with fresh food and not charge them anything for it. Really connecting people with food and just making it really available and accessible so that anyone who needs food isn’t limited to getting it if they can’t pay for it that day,” said Fackler.
According to the USDA, 10.5 percent of U.S. households in 2019 were food insecure at least some time during the year.
The stand is also about connecting people to the community as well as to the union’s programming. Dry goods from Fair Deal Market are also a part of the stand to go with the fresh produce as a meal.
