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Friday, August 23rd, 2024

The Government Spends Millions to Open Grocery Stores in Food Deserts. The Real Test Is Their Survival

Author:     Molly Parker
Source:     ProPublica | Capitol News Illinois
Publication Date:     Aug. 9, 2024 | 9 a.m. EDT
 Link: The Government Spends Millions to Open Grocery Stores in Food Deserts. The Real Test Is Their Survival
Stephan:  

I knew about medical deserts, and have written about them, and published many articles about them in SR. But until I read this ProPublica report I had never heard about Food Deserts, defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as any low-income urban neighborhoods without a grocery store within a mile, and any rural communities without one within 10 miles. Food deserts, yet another example of the grotesque wealth inequality in the United States. How is it that other developed democracies can feed, provide healthcare, and educate their citizens, yet we cannot seem to do that? We have 2,781 billionaires and more than 5.5 million Americans with liquid investible assets of more than $1 million, up 62% over the past decade. Then there are 37.9 million people in poverty, which is 11.5% of Americans.

Board members and other stakeholders raise signs reading, “We are no longer a food desert,” at the grand opening of Rise Community Market in Cairo, Illinois, in June 2023. Credit: ProPublica

CAIRO, ILLINOIS. — More than 100 people congregated in the parking lot of Rise Community Market on its opening day a little over a year ago. As they listened to celebratory speeches, the audience erupted into joyful exclamations: “Mercy!” “Wonderful!” “Wow!” “All right!” Colorful homemade signs raised by local leaders beckoned the crowd to join in: “We!” “Are!” “No!” “Longer!” “A!” “Food!” “Desert!”

For most American cities, the opening of a new grocery store barely warrants a mention. But in Cairo, the government seat of Illinois’ poorest county and the fastest-shrinking one in America, business openings are rare. And for residents who for years had to travel long distances to buy food, it was a magical moment.

“Access to healthy foods and fresh produce is not just about groceries. It’s about justice,” declared Juliana Stratton, Illinois’ lieutenant governor, to the cheering crowd that gathered in Illinois’ southernmost city.

Cairo, she said, had set the stage for what was to come as Illinois embarked on its new grocery store […]

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