Aug. 6, 2024
A real estate investor seven years into an effort to build a grocery to serve Statesville Avenue neighborhoods.
A Beatties Ford Road advocate pulling together a community owned food co-op.
A leader of a farm-to-family food provider serving multiple counties.
A 20-year veteran of commercial groceries who will reshape systems and culture to serve neighborhoods along West Boulevard.
And a county health official committed to encouraging all groups working to improve access to fresh food in Charlotte’s many so-called “food deserts.”
Tuesday’s Forum shed light on a problem decades in the making. Success for the various efforts discussed is hardly guaranteed. That’s not because there isn’t any capital behind these projects. It is, as presenters firmly acknowledged, in part because of the decisions and priorities of the food-buying public.
And just because a grocery destination is no longer 10 miles away but 1.6 miles away does not mean that everyone eager for better, fresher food will be able to reach that closer destination. There are as many layers to the food desert problem as there are layers of a cabbage – or of an onion that would make most anyone cry.
QCityMetro’s report on the presentation is here.
Contact information for presenters above, left to right:
Dr. Kimberly Scott, Mecklenburg Assistant Health Director
website https://www.mecknc.gov/
e-mail kimberly.scott2@mecknc.gov
Rodney Faulkner, Principal, Broker-In-Charge, Boundary Street Advisors
website https://boundarystreetadvisors.com/
e-mail hello@boundarystreetadvisors.com
Toni Eskridge, Operations Coordinator, Carolina Farm Trust
website https://carolinafarmtrust.org/
e-mail toni@carolinafarmtrust.org
Janiqua Jackson, General Manager, Three Sisters’ Market
website for West Blvd Neighborhood Association https://westblvdnc.org/
website for Three Sisters’ Market https://westblvdnc.org/three-sisters-market/
e-mail janiqua@westblvdnc.org
J’Tanya Adams, Founder and Executive Director, Historic West End Partners
website https://www.hwep.org/