“The world’s hunger is getting ridiculous. There’s more fruit in a rich man’s shampoo than in a poor man’s plate.”
-Anonmyous
Food deserts around the world are becoming more frequent. A food desert is an urban area in which it is difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food, for the most part they are found in poor or run down areas that do not have a grocery store nearby to where the citizens have to take a rather long trip to bring fresh food and supplies. Food deserts are mainly caused because most food or grocery companies do not want to take the risk of building a store where the criminal record is high. One of the numerous city's suffering from the lack of food is West Savannah, although they are using many methods to try and stop the problem; it is still an ongoing issue.
One of main tactics the City of West Savannah is using to cease the lack of food and stores is the invention of mobile grocery stores, such as Farm …show more content…
Truck 912. Farm Truck 912 is a mobile farm project that brings fruits and veggies into Savannah neighborhoods with the least access to healthy foods. "Farm Truck 912 offers low-cost alternatives for a family on a limited budget by having pricing comparable to that of Kroger and Walmart. The program focuses on nutritional education as a way to combat diet-related diseases.” This quotation from the article “Hart to Heart: Farm Truck 912 supplying Savannah's food deserts with healthy food”, state's what impact Farm Truck 912 is attempting to make, which is then followed up by ““Most of our shoppers predominantly shop at Kroger or Walmart or their closest corner store. They are enjoying the accessibility of Farm Truck 912 in their neighborhoods,” Satlow said.” This statement from the article proves that the method they are using is making a good impact on the City of West Savannah.
Another method Savannah is using to terminate the shortage of food is speaking out.
This method is when the citizens of Savannah let the public and the media know what's happening in their small poor neighborhoods. “West Savannah residents, like Ronald Simmons, are fed up with not having a true grocery store. "We need fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, you know. We need a supermarket. We definitely need it in this neighborhood," he said.” This citation is pulled from the article “West Savannah struggles with healthy food options in 'food desert'. The citation not only describes what is happening in the neighborhoods, it is from a citizen's point of view, which makes the situation even more real. Another citation from the same article states the same issue, “Williams has been working to get a grocery store in the area for years. "We deserve just as much as anybody else throughout the city," he said. Right now, in a one mile stretch along West Bay Street, there are seven places to buy alcohol, but no grocery
stores.””
The final method the citizens of West Savannah are using is asking developers for help. After asking the city the citizens decided to turn to the people with money. The article ‘Years of being in a food desert, West Savannah neighbors hear about potential grocery store’ confirms that “Formey says it can cost up to $3.5 million to bring in the store. He has accumulated at least two and a half of that. Now, he’s asking the city for help as they still explore options but alderman Johnson wants to see ground broken on a store by the end of 2016.” Now that W. Savannah has the help of a big developer they can finally get the store they’ve needed for years.
The city of West Savannah is doing all they can with the little resources they have to bring the food desert to a minimum. The three tactics, Mobile Food, Speaking out, and Asking developers help are making the food desert smaller and smaller. Soon enough the City of West Savannah will have a grocery store and the food desert will be long gone.