Anyone who has successfully tended to a garden or a farm knows the joy of a bountiful harvest. But what do you do when there’s too much to use by yourself or sell at the farmers market? For Dr. Juanita Sapp, the answer was to give back to members of the community struggling with food insecurity.

“Friends of mine that garden always say that they have extra zucchinis. Well, everyone has zucchinis except for the people that don’t garden, same thing with cucumbers or extra potatoes at the end of the season,” Dr. Sapp said.  “I asked myself ‘why not put a farm stand somewhere where people can find it and have someone to check on it in the evenings to make sure rotten things are thrown away?’”

Originally from Powell, Dr. Sapp left in the 1980s to pursue a medical career. She returned to the Big Horn Basin to serve as the original doctor of Heritage Health Center when it opened in 2015. Following a merger with Montana-based medical provider One Health in 2022, she retired from medicine but stayed involved as vice president of the board of directors for the network of nonprofit health centers.

“I’ve always worked for nonprofits, I’ve never worked for a profit system,” Dr. Sapp said. “I’ve always wanted to work with people who could use more resources.”

Following her retirement, Dr. Sapp began a garden on part of a 2-acre spread near Willwood to keep busy. On it, she raises 200 tomato plants in a hoop house that she sold at the farmers market for a few years before coming up with the idea for a self-serve produce stand as a way to manage the excess of not only her garden but for gardens across the area.

After discussing the idea with Dr. Sarah Sowerwine, a family practice doctor with One Health, Dr. Sowerwine began the process of making the vision a reality. She began by seeking out a local contractor who was willing to donate time and labor to the project. Following the stand’s construction in late July, she helped the clinic’s staff in integrating it into their services.

“We’ve been trying to get the word out for the patients to use it as well as encouraging them to bring donations. A lot of our clinical staff have really been taking advantage of it as well,” Dr. Sowerwine explained. “A lot of them have the challenge of getting healthy food on the table as well so this really is for everybody and we’re just trying to get information out to the community now.”

The stand already provides an assortment of different food options depending on what donations are brought in from the community and includes produce like bell peppers, cherry tomatoes and acorn squash. Apart from fresh food, the stand also offers other items such as baby formula free of charge to all members of the community, not just patients and staff.

“So many people in Powell are generous and we’re really fortunate that we have folks like that as our neighbors,” Dr. Sapp said. “We’re lucky to live in a town that’s willing to share what they have and share their kindness.”

The clinic also has an appointed community resource specialist whose job is to help connect patients with the nonmedical services that One Health provides, including the produce stand. Dr. Sowerwine said it’s the specialist’s job to assist patients with signing up for SNAP benefits, recommend other community resources and manage the logistics of the stand.

“Instead of just saying ‘hey, it’s important that you eat fruits and vegetables’ to our patients, we would say ‘hey, I know it’s hard sometimes to know where to get your hands on affordable healthy food. We actually have this farm stand, go ahead and check it out,’” Dr. Sowerwine said. “This really helps us in getting nutritious foods into the hands of not only our patients and staff, but also the rest of Powell. We’re really excited about it and the clinic has really embraced it.”

Although the stand was constructed near the end of growing season, news of the stand has already begun to spread across the area through word of mouth. Plans on expanding the stand to include seeds and other shelf-stable donations are already in the works, according to Dr. Sowerwine. Both doctors are confident that more contributions will be seen in the stand as awareness continues to build.

“Every gardener says that next year is the year that it’s going to be great, every year,” Dr. Sapp joked. “But we anticipate that next year the stand is going to be an even greater resource for the people of Powell that don’t have their own garden.”

The stand sits on the northeast corner of the Powell One Health Clinic across Panther Boulevard from Powell High School, and is stocked weekly and open 24/7.

Errand of Mercy

The creation of One Health’s produce stand is the latest development in addressing food insecurity in the area. The stand joins the American Legion and Powell Valley Loaves and Fishes in providing resources to the residents of Powell.

According to map data from 2024 provided by Feeding America, the largest domestic hunger-relief organization in the United States, 14.3% of Park County’s overall population lives with food insecurity. In 2020, that number was 9.6%.

Two-thirds of food insecure residents are just above the SNAP gross monthly income eligibility threshold, while the other third make just below SNAPs federal poverty guidelines’ threshold of 130%. Adjusted to reflect local food prices, the estimated annual food budget shortfall for the residents of Park County is $3,293,000.

The problem can be seen more acutely throughout the Big Horn Basin, with Washakie County seeing a 15.9% food insecure population, Big Horn facing 17.4%, and Hot Springs confronting a 18.2% rate.

The latest numbers provided also don’t show the full impact of recent developments following massive cuts to SNAP benefits by the Department of Government Efficiency last July and the subsequent funding delays and temporary budget cuts during the government shutdown last fall. Rising gas prices and other increases to cost of living expenses for the average Big Horn Basin resident have furthered the cause for concern.

For more information regarding access to food assistance and other community resources, visit either the Wyoming Hunger Initiative website at nohungerwyo.org/ or Wyoming 211 at wyoming211.org/.