Shipping containers provide grocery staples to those without easy access

Stockbox operates miniature grocery stores from reclaimed shipping containers, bringing fresh produce to those without easy access to supplies.

Regular Springwise readers may have noticed the various reincarnations of the shipping container we’ve featured recently, from movie theaters to low-cost housing and health clinics. Now, in Seattle, they are once again being put to positive social use by Stockbox, who transform them into miniature grocery stores for those without easy access to supplies. In the US, 23 million people live in food deserts — low-income areas with no access to healthy or affordable food within walking or biking distance. Stockbox was formed in an attempt to fix the “grocery gap”, with a vision to make essentials — such as fresh fruit, vegetables, bread, grains, milk and meat — easily available in every neighbourhood. The Stockbox team, who met at the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, recently opened their first temporary store in the car park of an apartment block, in the Delridge district in Seattle. The store is open daily and will act as a prototype, enabling the team to get to know the community and develop the model, which they plan to roll out as a permanent fixture in business car parks around the country in 2012. Stockbox aim to promote a more localized food system and change the old convenience store model. The idea won Best Idea for Retail/Service Business at the University of Washington Business Plan awards 2011. The video below explains Stockbox in more detail: Obesity and medical conditions linked to poor diet are growing problems in cities worldwide, where access to fresh and healthy food is limited. Stockbox appear to offer a cost effective solution. Are there urban areas near you hungry for a similar model? Spotted by: Katharina Kieck