According to the United States Department of Agriculture, “The distance to the nearest supermarket or supercenter for the average U.S. household was 2.14 miles and that average household primarily shopped at a store 3.79 miles from home.” Nonetheless, the wannabe do-gooders at any number of universities around the country continually push for more supermarkets in minority neighborhoods, even though by the government’s calculations these communities often are already well-served.
For example, take my community of Hough (where I’ve heard this myth echoed for years now) and the adjacent community of Fairfax. Both have a number of supermarkets located well under the distance the average American family member has to travel to buy food, but nonetheless, both — as well as other primarily minority neighborhoods — are classified as “food deserts.”
And in spite of this reality a new (albeit smaller than average footprint) supermarket is set to be built by Meijer — a western Michigan chain — as part of the ambitious Innovation Square mixed-use project that will be centered at the intersection of E. 105th Street and Cedar Avenue.
The food outlet has been green-lighted in spite of the fact that in less than two miles both of the communities are currently served by three full-service supermarkets (Church Square at E. 79th Street and Euclid Avenue, Aldi’s at E.73rd Street and Euclid, and a new Daves at E63rd Street and Chester Avenue) — and a fourth market, a “Constantinos” recently shuttered its doors at Euclid Avenue and E. 114th Street, less than a mile from where the new store is set to be built.
Evidently the supposedly well-meaning folk who constantly promote the false narrative of food deserts, and then clamor for the owners of food chains to take the substantial risk of opening a store that is too close to another store for both of them to survive, are in need of enlightenment.
But first, I wish one of these folk would give me a number — a distance: How close should a supermarket be to these allegedly underserved families and individuals’ residences to consider the “food desert” problem served? A mile? Less than a mile? How about a half-mile? Surely a quarter-mile (which is 1,320 feet) is close enough to Miss Annie’s (who might be 80 years old) apartment, right? No, Miss Annie is not about to walk even a quarter-mile with her groceries — why should she?
Let’s go all the way back to the model that cities were built on well over 100 years ago, where every block had a grocery store on virtually every corner. But that went out of style with high-buttoned shoes, when shopping malls began to be built all across the land, and for good reason: The automobile. And for that same reason even in communities where some folks have to drive 10 miles or more to do the weekly (or monthly) grocery shopping, they still are not designated as food deserts, only poor neighborhoods are.
Why the difference? Because someone in the family unit in the suburbs usually has ready access to transportation, that’s the difference.
So the problem isn’t a lack of food outlets which creates “food deserts”; the real problem is a lack of adequate transportation, an easy, reliable means by which to get to the locations of the food — it’s really a “transportation desert.” Miss Annie doesn’t need a supermarket less than a few blocks away, she needs to be able to easily get to the existing ones, no matter if they are a couple of miles — or 20 miles — away in the case of a Costco. Why shouldn’t Miss Annie have the option of shopping there if she so desires?
I know the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) has circulator buses, but they are not an adequate solution. I’ve heard too many horror stories of elderly residents waiting hours for a vehicle to be dispatched to pick them up after a visit to a doctor or dentist. No.
What’s really needed is an on-demand Uber-type service for elders: One that picks a person up within ten minutes or less, tops, and takes them where want or need to go. It should be a free service for seniors, the disabled and mothers with small children — and the way to make it free is to endow the service, and keep it out of the clutches of the bureaucrats at RTA. Such a service could also solve the “medical care desert” — surely an issue that’s going to come up sometime in the future. Will the solution be to build a medical center on every block for easier access? Again, no.
Saying we as a society can’t afford to provide such a service is sheer nonsense and a cop-out as well. We have enough money — we simply don’t care enough about our disadvantaged populations that are in need of a little help that would vastly improve their quality of life.
Nonetheless, the do-gooders sure don’t mind asking the owners of supermarkets to take the risk of placing a new store too close to a competitor’s existing outlet and thereby run the risk of one cannibalizing the other.
The folks who operate successful supermarket chains are very good at conducting market studies and know the industry standards in regards to how far apart food outlets should be. Why are they violating commonsense in this case? Or, more pointedly, who is using flawed thinking in regards to black demographics (something that’s more commonly done that anyone might imagine) to justify the opening of this store, and to what purpose? Is someone attempting to hurt the existing supermarkets (that have served the community so well for years) on purpose?
From CoolCleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author at http://NeighborhoodSolutionsIn
2 Responses to “MANSFIELD: The Myth That Just Won’t Die: Food Deserts”
Harry Banks
I totally agree with you on this. When I first read about the Meijers Market opening at East 105th and Cedar Avenue, I asked myself “Why?” Especially since the new Dave’s Super Market on 63rd and Chester has been open. On the other hand, it seems to me, Dave’s could be more conscientious about enforcing the face mask requirement. I know that the profit margin for supermarkets is small. However, is a customer infected with COVID-19, as a result of another customer not wearing a face mask, increasing or decreasing their customer base? Yes, there is a sign at the entrance — Enforce it!
Mary Mills
We definitely need more public transportation for seniors. Also when the “food desert” term is used, it only refers to supermarkets. There are ethnic groceries especially on the west side of Cleveland that are well stocked with fresh produce and a variety of groceries. These are often smaller and fill a niche but are not even counted as groceries. More could be done to help them reach out to people in the neighborhood to all residents.