In a city built on freight and forward motion, a new chapter is unfolding near the intersection of Walker Avenue and College Street — written in steel, soil, and soul.
Crafted from repurposed shipping containers and powered by produce grown just down the street, the Green Leaf Container Café and Farm Stand is the latest milestone for Knowledge Quest, the South Memphis nonprofit that has been sowing seeds of transformation since 1998. The café officially opened April 1, offering neighbors a place to gather, eat fresh and see what’s possible when homegrown ideas take root.
“To be able to have healthy prepared foods is really the next level,” said Marlon Foster, founder and CEO of Knowledge Quest. “We started with education, cooking demos, nutrition classes. Now, to take food from our organic farm and serve it to the community in a formal café — that’s taking the vision to scale.”
And the setting? A striking mix of agriculture and industry: shipping containers that once moved goods across oceans now serve as the foundation for a neighborhood café where students prep omelets, sear grass-fed burgers and caramelize onions for paninis.
“This is homegrown,” Foster said. “These are South Memphis residents leading the café, leading the organization, creating something that the whole city can come out and support.”
A Café Grown from the Ground Up
The ingredients come from Green Leaf Learning Farm, a USDA-certified organic farm operated by Knowledge Quest less than a half-mile from the café. Foster says nearly everything on the menu — breakfast and lunch staples served Tuesday through Friday — originates there. But it’s not just about food access. The café is also a workforce hub.
“Students grow the food. They cook the food. And now, for those interested in being executive chefs or restaurant owners, they can get hands-on experience right here,” Foster said. “Front of house, back of house — it’s all in play.”
In fact, one of those students now runs the joint. Tamia Townsend, who joined the culinary program as a ninth-grader, went on to major in culinary arts in college, worked at the Dixon, and now serves as director of the café.
“She still lives right around the corner. To see her journey come full circle — that’s probably the most gratifying part of this work,” Foster said.
A Community Culinary Celebration
The café’s ribbon-cutting felt more like a block party: clapping neighbors, elected officials, the Cummings K–8 marching band, and plenty of cheers for what this space now represents.
Dr. Christopher B. Davis, president of LeMoyne-Owen College, delivered an invocation and a surprise announcement: The land the café sits on, owned by the college, will be donated to Knowledge Quest.
“This is more than a piece of land,” Davis said. “It’s an investment in entrepreneurship and in the thriving future of South Memphis.”
Memphis City Councilman J.B. Smiley, who grew up just blocks away, reflected on the symbolism of building something lasting in the place where so many stories begin.
“Some of us moved away, but we never forget South Memphis. It’s the bridge that brought us over,” Smiley said. “This café could’ve been built anywhere, but Knowledge Quest chose to serve our people.”
Shelby County Commissioner Mickell Lowery praised the neighborhood-first approach: “We don’t need anybody else coming in to help us — we can do it right here.”
More Than a Meal
The café operates Tuesday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., with plans to extend into evening hours this summer. The team is also finalizing partnerships with delivery services like Uber Eats and DoorDash.
“Right now, it’s hard to even get a cup of coffee in South Memphis,” Foster said. “Now you can come here, get your coffee, get a frittata, get a salmon panini and know that your money is going right back into youth programming, job training and community development.”
For Foster, the café is both culmination and new beginning.
“We started with a community garden back in 1999,” he said. “To go from that to a café made from shipping containers, built and run by folks from the neighborhood — that’s the work. That’s the dream.
“And we’re just getting started.”
