Food deserts can be found across the United States, but are particularly prevalent in St. Louis, Missouri. The simple definition of a food desert is an area without easy access to fresh, affordable food. These food insecure areas lack grocery stores and convenient places to pick up healthy food, which presents a variety of challenges for community members. Living in a food desert is hard. It means facing hunger, exhaustion and added stress on a day-to-day basis, as well as a variety of health complications over time. Food insecurity looks like kids going to school hungry, neighbors struggling with health issues, and families being forced to make tough decisions. Although food insecurity is a complicated issue with no quick fix, we believe everyone should have access to healthy, affordable food.

We care about the food on our shelves. Low-cost food should be high-quality food, which is why we take time to select great produce for our stores. We accept every form of payment, including EBT (electronic benefits transfer), and our groceries are SNAP-eligible. 

We care where our food comes from. All of our fresh food is locally-sourced from farmers and growers in St. Louis and neighboring areas, allowing us to help build a robust local food system. A better food system means less waste, more sustainable practices, and an improved food economy for all. 

We source our seasonal, quality food from: 

65

Local Farmers

200

Community Gardens

The Link Market is more than a grocery store. We want to build community through education and events to help restructure the way our customers use and think about healthy food. Customers can learn more about healthy eating by participating in interactive cooking demonstrations at our markets or watching our online recipe tutorials. We believe everyone should have access to tools that help make cooking with fresh foods fun and easy. 

We are committed to finding better, smarter ways to tackle food insecurity. We will consistently assess our work with the help of data collection, continual research, listening sessions, and community feedback to assure we are staying as transparent as possible. The hope is that our multi-approach commitment to this issue will lead to better food access, a healthier food system, and policy changes that will impact the future of food justice.