Rob McClendon: Well, for some Oklahomans fresh
healthy food is hard to come by no matter
the price.
While Oklahoma is an agricultural state, we
also have several areas where there is limited
access to fresh food.
They’re called food deserts and they remain
a true paradox in this land of plenty.
Today, we’re gonna take a look at one innovative
solution, but before we do, here’s some
background.
Rob: It’s called a food desert, an area,
whether rural or urban, where fresh food is
simply unavailable.
While inconvenient for some, for others, food
deserts can contribute to everything from
a neighborhood’s decline to malnutrition
and obesity.
Stephen Eberle has been working on the problem
for over five years.
Stephen Eberle: A food desert is a neighborhood
where there is literally no place to find
real food or whole food; there are only convenience
stores and fast-food chains.
There is no place to buy a loaf of bread,
milk, cheese, meats, dairy and fresh vegetables;
they literally don’t exist.
Rob: Now for many neighborhoods here in Tulsa,
finding a local grocery store can be about
a 10-mile trip; not a huge problem if you
have your own car, but if you’re dependent
upon public transportation or on foot, it
makes finding fresh food virtually impossible.
Here in west Tulsa where windows are replaced
with wood and grocery stores are all but non-existent,
the Blue Jackalope serves as sort of a food
oasis in what was a food desert.
Scott Smith: I started observing people in
the neighborhood who didn’t have access
to a supermarket.
We lost two major-sized supermarkets within
a 10-minute walk from here, over the, over
the course of a couple of years.
Rob: So Scott sparked his entrepreneurial
spirit and started the Blue Jackalope, a neighborhood
market that’s an oasis of fresh food and
warm fellowship.
Scott: When I found out that a lot of my neighbors
on food stamps existed off of going to convenience
stores for their food source, it really kind
of hit home.
Rob: Scott’s managed to turn his store into
a one-stop shop for this community.
In addition to providing an array of essential
groceries and local produce, it’s also a
deli, a coffee bar and perhaps best of all,
a central hub of social activity.
Scott: They’ll sit down at the table, it’s
a communal table, and they’ll start conversations
with people.
And then they will do informal networking,
and that has gotten people who are under-employed
or unemployed in the neighborhood day-labor
jobs.
More than anything it’s just become a place
where neighbors are meeting neighbors, whether
within our community or across a broader scope
of the city that we live in.
Rob: Food deserts are not just confined to
the inner city.
Of Oklahoma‘s 77 counties, almost half are
considered food deserts, all of these here
in rural Oklahoma.
And of these counties, nine are considered
severe food deserts, which means it takes
about a 10-mile trip to get to the local grocery
store.
Doug Walton: And many of our rural residents
are elderly and also lower income, and we
have higher poverty in rural populations.
And transportation becomes a real issue in
rural counties as the distance from the store
increases.
And so the options that are left are often
convenience stores or very small grocer-type
stores that lack selection and also tend to
have higher prices.
Rob: And while long stretches of road are
often to blame in rural areas, it’s the
simple lack of transportation that limits
others in Oklahoma City.
Within the shadow of the state Capitol, Kevin
Johnson walks blocks, past closed food stores,
to just pick up a bag of groceries.
Kevin Johnson: When you live where they’re
kind of spread out around here, there ain’t
too many around here, so it’s not very easy.
You don’t just have to go a little ways
or whatever.
Rob: And when on foot, that’s not so easy.
At the intersection of MLK and 23rd, you can
hear the vibrancy of the neighborhood.
Hometown Market is one of the last grocery
stores in this area.
Inside the isles are bright, and the food
is fresh, something store manager Chris Carter
says has helped them succeed where others
have not.
Chris Carter: We struggle hard and try hard
to provide everything we can for a consumer
that’s looking for whatever product they
may be looking for.
Yes, I think we have a great produce department.
I think we have the freshest produce that
any money can buy, so, and we work hard to
do that, very hard.
Rob: Carter says while he’s proud of the
fresh produce his store offers, he understands
why some smaller retailers have abandoned
the healthier fare.
Walton: Ultimately, it’s a customers’
choice.
You could provide them nothing but healthy
foods, and that still doesn’t mean they’re
gonna buy it.
Eberle: We’re killing ourselves in Oklahoma
on the dollar menu; that’s where we’re
eating, rich or poor, food stamps or not,
we’re eating processed food only, and it’s
killing us.
We see children with Type 2 diabetes that
shouldn’t have it at all, but they’re
obese, they’re eating nothing but processed
foods full of sugars and salts.
And, and that’s the dilemma.
Rob: A dilemma that Eberle and others believe
can be solved by one healthy corner store
at a time.
Now, we have been reporting on food deserts
for several years now, and since we shot this
story, the Oklahoma Legislature passed legislation
to allow for low-interest loans to entrepreneurs
who want to open healthy neighborhood markets
in areas without a corner store.
Now, when we return, we’ll visit one such
corner grocer that’s not on the corner.
