\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of grassroots interest and it may yield something in the future,\u201d said Emrys Treasure, co-chair of the East Raleigh CAC. \u201cTo this point I haven\u2019t seen any material benefit \u2014 some of these things just take time.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"File:](\"http:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/kroger1-771x448.jpg\")
<\/a>Karen Tam <\/p>
File: The Kroger on Martin Luther King, Jr. at Raleigh Boulevard. This picture was taken before it closed. <\/p><\/div>\n
Treasure said the Kroger closing only leaves one less-accessible grocery store in east Raleigh, and many residents in the area don\u2019t have the transportation to reach it.<\/p>\n
Southeast Raleigh CAC Co-Chair Tim Sit said the inside-the-beltline part of his district has the same problem with food access. <\/p>\n
\u201cOutside the beltline, you\u2019re probably going to have a car,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The Quest for Food<\/strong> Kroger representatives said in 2012 that its stores weren\u2019t profitable enough to keep open. Profit margins in the grocery industry hover around 1.3 percent, leaving little wiggle-room if costs spike or sales slump. Carlie\u2019s IGA<\/a>, a North Carolina grocery chain, opened in the former New Bern Kroger site in 2013. <\/p>\n Carlie\u2019s President Mack McLamb said the chain controls costs enough it can get by on a lower sales volume than Kroger. <\/p>\n Raleigh Planning Department Director Mitchell Silver said the city has talked unsuccessfully with other chains about reopening in the other Kroger location. Until a new tenant moves in, Raleigh is allowing a temporary farmer\u2019s market<\/a> in the parking lot. <\/p>\n The market, run by the \u201cWe also changed urban agriculture rules to allow for more community gardens throughout the city, particularly in Southeast Raleigh,\u201d Silver said, and to allow for temporary vegetable stands, similar to the way it approves temporary Christmas-tree and fireworks vendors. \u201cWe do whatever we can. We recognize it\u2019s a problem.\u201d <\/p>\n However, he adds, \u201cWe can set the rules. It\u2019s up to the nonprofit and private sector to take advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n Urban Agriculture<\/strong> In the fall, the gardens offered onions, Swiss chard, kale, more than a dozen herbs and various tomato and pepper varieties. For winter, there are collards, cabbage, beets and lettuce. It\u2019s up to the individual gardeners and urban farmers whether they eat their share of the produce themselves or sell it. Raleigh now has seven to 10 acres of urban agriculture, Smalls said, \u201cwhich is a mere pittance compared to other urban areas.\u201d<\/p>\n Erin White of the Community Food Lab<\/a>, a private organization studying food systems, said community gardens and temporary food vendors have reduced food desert conditions in other cities, such as Seattle. He says neighboring Durham offers other solutions, such as the LoMo Market, a food truck that sets up as a farmer\u2019s market in different locations on rotation, and Cookery, a commercial kitchen that rents space to other food entrepreneurs. <\/p>\n However, White says, Wake County doesn\u2019t allow for Cookery-type arrangements, where multiple businesses share one kitchen permit.<\/p>\n Sit says he\u2019s not sure how much impact urban agriculture and farmers\u2019 markets can have: That may not be possible, he said, depending on residents\u2019 work schedules and available transportation.<\/p>\n State-Level Efforts<\/strong> The bill also offers credits to businesses that invest in business property in food deserts. Holley says mom-and-pop stores that expand their food offerings \u2014 investing in a refrigerated section, for instance \u2014 could qualify. <\/p>\n Holley told the Record that after the bill generated interest from the state Agriculture Department, the American Heart Association and retail groups, the Legislature assigned it to a study committee. She said she expects a committee recommendation on the bill in the 2014 session.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A new grocery, community gardens, a farmers\u2019 market. Raleigh is looking at solutions for east and southeast Raleigh\u2019s food desert.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24028,"featured_media":17085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[1103,1501,1162,1502,1104,1141],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20776"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24028"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMost definitions of a food desert<\/a> \u2014 an area where a significant number of residents can\u2019t find healthy food \u2014 count lack of transportation as part of the problem, along with low incomes and a lack of nearby groceries.<\/p>\n![\"File:](\"http:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/covenant-community-garden_1_1-336x183.jpg\")
<\/a>[\/caption]<\/p>\n
\nMaurice Smalls, an Ohio urban-agriculture activist, said he\u2019s been working on that for the past two years. Since the Interfaith Food Shuttle brought him to the Triangle, he said, southeast Raleigh has added five acres of community gardens. <\/p>\n
\n\u201cPeople say they want it, but it depends whether they have the time to get there when the farmer\u2019s market is available.\u201d <\/p>\n
\nThe problem isn\u2019t unique to Raleigh. The American Heart Association<\/a> says the state has 410,000 residents living in 171 food deserts scattered throughout North Carolina in both urban and rural areas. In 2013, Wake County State Rep. Yvonne Holley proposed a bill<\/a> offering tax credits to businesses that create jobs in food desert areas, provided at least 10 percent of their gross receipts comes from selling nutrient-dense foods. <\/p>\n