Simplified: The Sioux Falls Mobile Market is back on the road this week bringing affordable grocery stores to food deserts across town. Here's what you need to know.

Why it matters

  • Sioux Falls' first mobile grocery store opened back in the fall of 2023 as a pilot project under Sioux Falls Thrive – supported in part by a $400,000 grant from the City of Sioux Falls. The goal was to help address food insecurity, which impacts about 1 in 10 people in Minnehaha County.
  • That initial market closed in June 2025 when the funding model proved unsustainable. Just over a year later, the market is back with a smaller truck, a new business model and the same mission to meet people where they are with accessible, affordable groceries.
  • This time around, the Mobile Market has a smaller vehicle – to help save on operational and maintenance costs. It's also now operated under the umbrella of Fair Market, which offers discounted groceries that are near-dated, post-dated, discontinued, label changes, overstocked, or excess inventory.
"I believe that we have enough food in this country to feed everyone," said Kristin Johnson, founder of Fair Market. "So being part of that logistical access is huge for me, personally."

Tell me more

The Mobile Market will be managed by Amber Jones-Esquibel, who will take care of the market as a Fair Market employee – planning stops, inventory, which neighborhoods like which foods, etc.

  • The Mobile Market is in the process of becoming its own nonprofit, and though it'll operate on its own, the inventory will all come from Fair Market.

Jones-Esquibel started work on re-opening the Mobile Market last fall, and she's helped orchestrate the community partnerships making this re-opening possible.

  • Throughout the last year, the previous, larger truck was sold, freeing up revenue to purchase the new, more affordable truck.
  • Because the Mobile Market isn't its own established nonprofit yet, it partnered with Peace Lutheran Church, the official owner of the vehicle – though the Mobile Market retains all liabilities and fun stuff like that.

What happens next?

The market will be out Monday through Friday, and a full schedule of stops can be found online.

For Jones-Esquibel, helping keep people fed and bridging gaps in the community is a spiritual calling.

"All I've gotta do is show up and be a good relative in the world," she said.