Stand at the corner of St. Louis Avenue and 13th Street in north St. Louis and you will not see a shortage of food.  One of the icons of St. Louis, Crown Candy Kitchen, has served the masses some of the best malts and BLT’s since opening in 1913.  But the building blocks of that sandwich, the lettuce and tomato, are in short supply.  There is no grocery store in the neighborhood.

Rusty Lee and Kara Lubischer plan to change that, bringing fresh farm produce directly to neighborhood residents.  Lee, of Lee Farms in Truxton, Missouri, has joined Lubischer, a community development specialist with University of Missouri Extension, to open the Old North Grocery Co-op.  Members of the co-op purchase shares of seasonal produce that are delivered boxed and ready to be picked up.  Last week’s offerings were acorn squash, sweet corn, new potatoes, peppers, onions and green beans.  Their building is an old horseradish factory, which they plan to convert to a grocery store to meet the needs and possibly influence the eating habits of north St. Louis residents.

Post-Dispatch reporter Georgina Gustin profiled their effort in today’s newspaper.  Read her story here.