Once upon a time, way back in 2012, Arcadia had a dream: to make the best fresh food in the region affordable and convenient to the neighborhoods in D.C. that had the hardest time getting their hands on it. People said we were crazy -- that nobody wants vegetables in those neighborhoods, otherwise, a store would already be selling them... right? 

So we did it anyway, because something just felt off. Everyone likes good food, right? And whole neighborhoods were being ignored by healthy food retail outlets. That must mean there was a demand for fresh, nutritious food that we could help to fill, right? 

We drummed up $2,500 for a busted old school bus built in 1996 and a can of green paint. We learned how to wire chest freezers into the electrical system, and we tricked them into being refrigerators (it's the food access version of a Jedi mind trick). 

And then we harvested food from our farm, and drove down country lanes to buy food from other local farmers, and we sold it at reasonable prices in neighborhoods that needed it the most.

Some generous donors helped us offer the food at a 50% discount to customers who used food stamps. And a funny thing happened. Week after week, people came out to meet the big green bus when it rolled up -- cleaning out our shelves, requesting new products like okra and green tomatoes that they couldn't seem to find anywhere else. 

And then we drove the bus to local schools so little kids could learn about good food too, and how to shop at a farmers market where not everything is labeled, or has a bar code. How to tell if it's ready to eat. What it tastes like. How to weigh it, and how to cook it.

Seven years and $1 million in cumulative sales later, the Big Green Bus has done her job, alright. She has fed thousands of families and introduced hundreds of school children to fresh, good food.

And now she is hanging up her spurs. Our big green bus needs a rest. 

So that means we need a replacement vehicle, and that's what we'd like your help with today. 

It costs about $20,000 to get a new vehicle tricked out and on the road, a small price to pay to make sure whole neighborhoods in DC can access the 90 different products we carry -- from apples to zuchinni, and pastured whole chickens and fresh eggs to jars of honey.

Help us get a new vehicle on the road in 2019, and then come out to the Market this season to celebrate her job well done. 

Thank you, from your grateful friends at Arcadia.