Why is there a shortage of grocery stores and fresh food options in Wards 7 and 8?

[Anonymous]

I just visited the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum, which reopened yesterday. The museum is running an excellent Food Justice exhibit.

Can anyone familiar with the issue share perspective on why there are so few grocery stores in Wards 7 and 8, and why there are no fruit and vegetable markets? There are many such markets in lower income areas of Brooklyn, New York. I wonder what is different...

My initial thought is that an entrepreneur could open a store, meet currently unmet demand, and turn a profit. However, that has not happened and I am wondering why.

[Anonymous]

Didn't Safeway and Giant at one point have stores in those wards? I think the reason they left was because of theft. Hard to justify a store if more money walks out the doors than goes in the cash register.

Now a seasonal produce stand, I have no clue why there are none. Seems like some local farmer could set up a stand to sell their fruit and veggies. I guess the DC government would want their share, that's probably why there are none.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Didn't Safeway and Giant at one point have stores in those wards? I think the reason they left was because of theft. Hard to justify a store if more money walks out the doors than goes in the cash register.

Now a seasonal produce stand, I have no clue why there are none. Seems like some local farmer could set up a stand to sell their fruit and veggies. I guess the DC government would want their share, that's probably why there are none.

If chains left due to theft, how would the local farmer survive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Didn't Safeway and Giant at one point have stores in those wards? I think the reason they left was because of theft. Hard to justify a store if more money walks out the doors than goes in the cash register.

Now a seasonal produce stand, I have no clue why there are none. Seems like some local farmer could set up a stand to sell their fruit and veggies. I guess the DC government would want their share, that's probably why there are none.

They have stores in those wards.

[Anonymous]

A few years ago Giant? or was it Walmart? had a deal to go EOTR. Then they pulled out - can't remember why.

[Anonymous]

Didn't Safeway and Giant at one point have stores in those wards? I think the reason they left was because of theft. Hard to justify a store if more money walks out the doors than goes in the cash register.

Now a seasonal produce stand, I have no clue why there are none. Seems like some local farmer could set up a stand to sell their fruit and veggies. I guess the DC government would want their share, that's probably why there are none

Why would a farmer sell a pint of berries for $2 in Ward 8 when they can sell them for $5 in Wards 1, 2 and 3?
And yes, for grocery stores it is the theft issue. Which really sucks for the majority of the people who live in those wards and don't steal.

[Anonymous]

https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/food-access-dc-deeply-connected-poverty-transportation/

Food deserts. I lived in one when I taught in public school in Baltimore. It was a real challenge as I didn’t have a car and getting to the grocery store involved two bus changes and nearly an hour on the bus, so I couldn’t go frequently. I could only carry so much food, and adding ice packs or such so it wouldn’t spoil further limited what I could buy because it was so heavy. I ate mostly stuff I could buy at the CVS, the Subway, the McDonalds, and the chicken box restaurant. It was not a healthy balanced diet. My students got free school lunch and they routinely would not eat the fruit, which would end up on the “share” table and then be trashed. I recall looking at it longingly.

[Anonymous]

Persistent poverty

[Anonymous]

In addition to the chronic problem of theft, the broader challenge from a public health perspective isn't one of supply (lack of access to healthy food) but of demand:

https://news.uchicago.edu/story/food-deserts-not-blame-growing-nutrition-gap-between-rich-and-poor-study-finds

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Persistent poverty

I think its a bit more complicated than that. OP you said you went to an exhibit about food justice I would think the exhibit would have answered your question.

Let's start with redlining of the those community which is the systematic process over decades of jamming people, black and brown people into an area with no investment. Grocery stores will then claim they can't make it work financially because of poverty, high rates of theft, etc. . So forget the chain grocery stores - new models of getting healthy food into those areas need to be created as well as creating pathways for increasing consumer demand for healthy foods in those communities. It's not just poverty at play. Not everyone needs a Whole Foods or Traders Joe's. If we are being honest there's lots of foods in both stores that are unhealthy. Farmers markets that allow purchases through WIC are successful, for example.

Some of this stuff is solvable but it takes some creative thinking and commitment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Persistent poverty

I think its a bit more complicated than that. OP you said you went to an exhibit about food justice I would think the exhibit would have answered your question.

Let's start with redlining of the those community which is the systematic process over decades of jamming people, black and brown people into an area with no investment. Grocery stores will then claim they can't make it work financially because of poverty, high rates of theft, etc. . So forget the chain grocery stores - new models of getting healthy food into those areas need to be created as well as creating pathways for increasing consumer demand for healthy foods in those communities. It's not just poverty at play. Not everyone needs a Whole Foods or Traders Joe's. If we are being honest there's lots of foods in both stores that are unhealthy. Farmers markets that allow purchases through WIC are successful, for example.

Some of this stuff is solvable but it takes some creative thinking and commitment.

You're overlooking the most important factor here: How will you "create consumer demand for healthy food" in these communities? That's been tried for YEARS and the obesity rates just keep climbing. I was a big fan of Michelle Obama's health food and Let's Move campaigns but anyone who tried to do that today would be called racist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Persistent poverty

I think its a bit more complicated than that. OP you said you went to an exhibit about food justice I would think the exhibit would have answered your question.

Let's start with redlining of the those community which is the systematic process over decades of jamming people, black and brown people into an area with no investment. Grocery stores will then claim they can't make it work financially because of poverty, high rates of theft, etc. . So forget the chain grocery stores - new models of getting healthy food into those areas need to be created as well as creating pathways for increasing consumer demand for healthy foods in those communities. It's not just poverty at play. Not everyone needs a Whole Foods or Traders Joe's. If we are being honest there's lots of foods in both stores that are unhealthy. Farmers markets that allow purchases through WIC are successful, for example.

Some of this stuff is solvable but it takes some creative thinking and commitment.

You're overlooking the most important factor here: How will you "create consumer demand for healthy food" in these communities? That's been tried for YEARS and the obesity rates just keep climbing. I was a big fan of Michelle Obama's health food and Let's Move campaigns but anyone who tried to do that today would be called racist.

I mean, I grew up on healthy food, have a decent income, and know what I'm eating, but basically subsist on fast food and processed meat. I almost never eat vegetables, so sometimes it's just about what people want. You could stick a whole foods and farmer's market in my front yard and they wouldn't get used, ever.

[Anonymous]

OP here. The exhibit shined a light on the challenge and consequences, and also on individuals working to fix it. However, I did not walk away understanding why specific grocery stores left, or why an open air produce market (like, for example, Three Guys From Brooklyn), doesn’t exist there.

The museum is hosting a virtual panel on the topic on August 19, which I plan to attend to learn more. Thanks to all who shared your thoughts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. The exhibit shined a light on the challenge and consequences, and also on individuals working to fix it. However, I did not walk away understanding why specific grocery stores left, or why an open air produce market (like, for example, Three Guys From Brooklyn), doesn’t exist there.

The museum is hosting a virtual panel on the topic on August 19, which I plan to attend to learn more. Thanks to all who shared your thoughts.

It’s terrible and I wish food deserts and groceries were not out of the reach of these wards. I would enjoy this exhibit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Didn't Safeway and Giant at one point have stores in those wards? I think the reason they left was because of theft. Hard to justify a store if more money walks out the doors than goes in the cash register.

Now a seasonal produce stand, I have no clue why there are none. Seems like some local farmer could set up a stand to sell their fruit and veggies. I guess the DC government would want their share, that's probably why there are none.

Yes, loss prevention. Stores cannot be forced to operate as charities..I always thought DC could do FAR more, like offering to open police substations in their entry ways, and other safety minded "partnerships" to encourage these stores to open. Instead, DC got very demandy with WalMart about employment and other perks the city wanted when they were thinking of locating in Washington. If it's simply market driven, no one will open in a demandy city in areas with rampant and tolerated theft. It's also very difficult to apprehend and prosecute for shoplifting, especially in our current world.