Hover over the dots. The photos are interesting.
I'm so fucking lucky. I got a small grocery store sized market owned by 4-5 local hipsters that has everything on this list for around the price of any major market. Most every thing is local most the produce is cheaper then the major chains. The chicken is pricey, but it's local, organic, free range, blah blah and I don't really like it. Different local artist hang on the open walls, the cashiers play what ever music they want, they even have a record player. One of the back walls opens into a nice little bar that has different owners from the market. They have live bands playing in the store periodically. Rock out, buy some produce, get a buzz on, they even have a small local music section stocking vinyl only. It's really more then what I just said, there web sight doesn't do it justice, but you can see a few of the bands that have played there. Cherry Sprout Even the two small bodegas near my house have everything but the chicken breasts. Maybe they don't have apples everyday, but always some choices of fruit.
Way to absolutely depress me as I'm about head to my bi-weekly shopping trip to Meijer's tomorrow. Fuck.Different local artist hang on the open walls, the cashiers play what ever music they want, they even have a record player. One of the back walls opens into a nice little bar that has different owners from the market. They have live bands playing in the store periodically. Rock out, buy some produce, get a buzz on, they even have a small local music section stocking vinyl only...
So with no scale, I got curious so I mapped the only two "green dots" in Dearborn Heights. From Save-A-Lot to Seaway Marketplace is a 1.6 mile walk, 28 minutes according to Google. By way of comparison I'm 1.1 miles from anything that would provide me those four ingredients and I'm in a hoighty-toighty 'berg near LAX. Granted, once I get there I'm across the street from a truly ridonkulous grocery store but by their way of counting, I'm in a "food desert." I think there's a very real problem with the lack of quality food in much of the inner city, but I also think this article doesn't tell the full story. A lot of the "markets" shown on the map are party stores and the like - CVS? Petro Mart? - and when they visited a produce market it counts as "nothing" because it was closed when they visited. If you can't accurately describe the problem you can't accurately map the solution.
Yeah. I listened to the story, and it was much more informative than this very brief article. As it was for local consumption, I think they are presenting it in the context that most folks here are keenly aware of the paucity of grocery stores in Detroit. One interesting thing they mentioned is that the stores need certain items to be SNAP compliant. In many cases, this meant just carrying a couple of the required items along side many less healthy choices. They also mentioned some places where you can buy a chicken with food assistance, but then it is fried on site. I suppose you can't use the assistance to buy a fried bird, but this skirts the rules. A Whole Foods is being built currently, however. But that is mostly targeting those moving into the city. When I lived in Detroit, we shopped for produce, meat, and cheese, at the Eastern Market every Saturday, but drove to the burbs to get things like milk, cereal, nuts, bread, yogurt, etc.A lot of the "markets" shown on the map are party stores and the like - CVS? Petro Mart? - and when they visited a produce market it counts as "nothing" because it was closed when they visited.
I'm curious b_b and WithLoveFromDet, do you feel like this map is accurate? Is it difficult to find an apple for yourself or your kid in Detroit? b_b I know you've mentioned in the past that you are getting better food options in your neighborhood. Is this another version of people pointing out the negative?