Entrepreneur Spotlight: Beverly Grant

OWNER OF MO’ BETTA GREEN MARKETPLACE

Beverly Grant is a RMMFI pioneer (Boot Camp class #1) and a proud Denverite who has a wealth of knowledge around the history of the city and the communities that have come, gone and evolved over time within it.  

Beverly was an influencer before the term influencer became a thing; she started her business in 1998 as catering company that eventually doubled as an internet cyber cafe during the day. The coffee shop/cyber cafe was at 2747 Welton Street in the old Cellman Records Bld. She did this for a number of years until her third child was born; then she went back to catering full time for the flexibility.

Around this time, the movie Food Inc. came out and provoked Beverly to question her food sources as she began to distrust what was being offered at her local grocery stores; that’s when the concept of Mo’ Betta Green MarketPlace came to life. In this moment, it occurred to Beverly that she had a responsibility to provide adequately sourced food to her community. She took it upon herself to understand different ways to source good food and did a deep dive into food sustainability and how to develop proper systems for communities that suffered from food desserts and food swamps to access good, healthy and fresh options right in their own backyards. 

Beverly was one of the first people to rally around the concept of community gardens, specifically in the Five Points neighborhood where she ran her businesses and witnessed food disparities firsthand. She used her network and connected herself to public policy officials, gardeners, food sustainability enthusiasts and anyone who was willing to help her push for what she refers to as HEAL (Health, Eating and Active Living). Beverly believes health disparities can be eradicated through food education and access and has made it her mission to do that.

You can find Beverly at any one of her 4 farmers market stands throughout the summer. Follow her on Facebook or Instagram for more information.