Virtua unveils its 40-foot, multi-wheeled vehicle to attack food insecurity in South Jersey communities.

With the 40-foot blue truck bearing a huge pop-out section behind him, Dr. Samuel Weiner assured the group assembled outside Virtua Willingboro Hospital on Wednesday that the "vehicle is more than a tricked-out RV."

The vehicle, which was unveiled to hospital staff, government officials and donors, is the latest addition to Virtua Health's Eat Well food access program and will make regular stops in Burlington and Camden counties to let residents shop for produce, frozen meats, canned goods and other grocery items at 40% to 50% below retail prices, according to Virtua.

Weiner, who regularly makes diet a conversation with his patients, said the Mobile Grocery Store will give people access to healthy foods so they can maintain their diets.

The vehicle is part of a $1.5-million state investment in Virtua's Eat Well program, which also has a Mobile Farmers Market and this summer will debut a Mobile Food Farmacy, offering free healthy food to Virtua patients with food insecurity and chronic diseases, such as diabetes, where a special diet is essential.

The two new vehicles, the Grocery Store and the Food Farmacy, cost $500,000 each. The remainder will go to other Eat Well projects. 

Virtua started the Mobile Grocery Store concept in 2021 with a retrofitted and used NJ Transit Bus that often suffered mechanical problems. The new custom-designed truck includes a wider aisle with food cases on either side and, in the pop-out, benches and a table for Virtua staff to discuss healthy foods and diet with shoppers.

"Good food is essential to good health," said Virtua President and CEO Dennis W. Pullin. "But many South Jerseyans have difficulty obtaining health items, whether it's due to cost, lack of transportation or other barriers," he added.

"When we purchased that bus (four years ago) we had no idea what it would lead to," Pullin said of the development of the program at the Wednesday event.

State Sen. Troy Singleton, who was credited with helping to make the Mobile Grocery Store possible, said Virtua is more than a hospital "beyond its walls."

He recalled helping to secure a well-used NJ Transit bus after making a request to Gov. Phil Murphy.

"But the bus is in the shop more than it is in the community," Singleton said.

Anyone in need of food access can shop in the Mobile Grocery Store, according to Virtua. Its schedule:

Tuesdays

• Living Springs Senior Residence and Manor, 600 Parkview Drive, Delanco. 9 to 10 a.m.
• Doreatha D. Campbell Senior Housing, 55 Sunset Road, Willingboro. 10:15 to 11:15 a.m.

Wednesdays

• Baldwin's Run Senior Residence, 3195 Westfield Avenue, Camden. 9 to 10 a.m.
• The Branches at Centerville, 1800 South Ninth Street, Camden. 10:15 to 11:15 a.m.
• Weinberg Commons, 1711 Springdale Road, Cherry Hill. 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Thursdays

• Christ Care Senior Housing, 400 Grimes Road, Sicklerville. 9 to 10 a.m.
• Palmyra Community Center, 30 West Broad Street, Palmyra. 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

The schedule for the Mobile Farmers Market:

Tuesdays

• Roosevelt Park Plaza, 520 Market Street, Camden. 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Faison Mews, 1655 Park Boulevard, Camden. 12:45 to 1:15 p.m.

Wednesdays

• Winslow Shopping Center, 510 Williamstown Road, Sicklerville. 9 to 10 a.m.
• Newton Lake, 520 North Newton Lake Drive, Collingswood. 10:45 to 11:45 a.m.
• Osborn Family Health Center, 1601 Haddon Avenue, Camden. 12:20 to 1:20 p.m.
• Stonegate at St. Stephen - Phase II, 6312 Browning Road, Pennsauken. 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.

Thursdays

• Burlington County Human Services Building, 795 Woodlane Road, Westampton. 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
• Virtua Willingboro Hospital - Main Entrance, 218 Sunset Road, Willingboro. 11 a.m. to noon.

The Mobile Food Farmacy, which is scheduled to debut this summer, will initially have two stops at Virtua Primary Care offices in Hammonton, Atlantic County, and Washington Township, Gloucester County.