In 2017, Marquitrice Mangham became the proud owner of her familyโs farm in Tallahatchie County, Mississippiโa pivotal moment occurring a year after she founded the nonprofit โIn Her Shoes.โ This organization was established to tackle housing instability and enhance food accessibility in the Mississippi Delta, on the very land where Mangham grew up. After graduating high school in Webb, Mississippi, she ventured out of state, joining the military and eventually relocating to Atlanta, Georgia, where she continues to live today. Upon her return to the Mississippi Delta, Mangham noted a stark transformation in her hometownโit had evolved into a fresh-food desert.
Reflecting on the changes, Mangham shared, โThe community had changed a lot from when I was youngโbecause I used to be able to come up to town to Webb right up the street from where I graduated (high school) and (find) everything I needed as far as meats and food to eat.โ She explained that now she had to travel to Greenwood, Clarksdale, or Charleston just to find fresh produce.
To address this issue, In Her Shoes began supporting Delta farmers in enhancing their enterprises and boosting food production. In Her Shoes acquired a building in Webb and transformed it into the Farmacy Marketplace, a fresh-food store stocked with produce, meats, and other goods from local farmers, which officially opened in 2022.
Public recognition of Manghamโs work rapidly grew, leading to encouraging phone calls from across the country. One early call came from the Oakland Chamber of Commerce in Yalobusha County, expressing a desire for Mangham to establish a grocery store in their community. She recognized Oakland as an ideal location for a second Farmacy Marketplace due to its demographics, proximity to fresh food, and the needs of nearby communities lacking grocery stores. Oaklandโs Farmacy Marketplace began serving the community on April 26, 2025.
The commitment to providing fresh, locally sourced food remains central to Manghamโs mission. โIt works well because we really focus on fresh, local food, working with my farmers, and helping them build capacity and sustain their food business,โ Mangham noted. As more communities in Mississippi living in food deserts reached out, she recognized that while some areas might not support a permanent store, residents still needed access to fresh food.
During this period, the American Heart Association became aware of Manghamโs efforts and offered to fund her projects, such as a mobile grocery initiative known as Farmacy Marketplace mobile grocery store. The Bernard J. Tyson Impact Fund of American Heart Association Venturesโ Social Impact Funds provided a $125,000 grant in 2024, facilitating the procurement of a mobile food truck.
Lisa Suennen of the American Heart Association Ventures commented on their support: โWhen people donโt have access to enough food, access to healthy food, or the means to pay for it, they must make tough choices. Overcoming food insecurity gives more people the opportunity to thrive, which is why itโs an important area of focus for the Heart Association.โ Assistance also came from the U.S. Department of Agricultureโs Local Food Promotion program.
Farmacy Mobile, a traveling grocery service, brings fresh produce, meats, and packaged goods to underserved Mississippi Delta communitiesโreaching Jonestown on Tuesdays, Coffeeville on Thursdays, and Mound Bayou on Fridays. This initiative focuses on low-income and low-access areas, where residents drive considerable distances for fresh food.
Looking ahead, Mangham expressed the strong community support for Farmacy Mobile in Mound Bayou and their potential to sustain a permanent grocery store. The USDA continues to back In Her Shoes, aiding farmers in expanding their operations, and Mangham hopes for further financial support to open a Mound Bayou location this year.
Despite obstacles in securing wholesale accounts due to the small size of Farmacy Marketplaceโs operations, Manghamโs resolve only grows stronger. Envisions creating a chain of stores catering to underserved communities by leveraging relationships with major food wholesalers while still prioritizing local farmers. โThatโs our whole vision: To have our own local or regional processing hub that sources to these smaller stores, not just Farmacy Marketplace,โ she said. This vision extends to supporting other small businesses that struggle to consistently access fresh food through larger distribution channels.