The Government Spends Millions to Open Grocery Stores in Food Deserts. The Real Test Is Their Survival.
The community of Cairo, Illinois, once a food desert, welcomed its new market last year with balloons and cheers. But the store is struggling — exposing problems with the programs set up to help.
I kinda think it would have been a better investment if they created some sort of local farm, of some kind.
It doesn't help with name brand products, but it would give the community fresh food, some employment, and some extra revenue. Dry goods and other products are deliverable, and much of it is not required for survival. I mean we are talking food deserts.
They could experiment with which farming techniques would be better suited to carry us into out changing climate. Maybe become a model for other farms to follow.
1600 people? That'll support a couple of dollar generals, it won't support a big supermarket.
It isn't a food desert, it's just rural. Money well fucking spent.
1600 people will support a grocery store just fine if the population was stable. The problem is that the town has been losing population since the 1920s. It lost 40% of its population since 2010. No company is going to want to open anything up there considering there will likely be less than 1000 people in less than a decade.
