BALTIMORE — Food deserts are common in some Baltimore neighborhoods.
However, for some neighbors in the Church Square community in East Baltimore, developers are working to change that.
Although food deserts have negatively impacted that community, city leaders like Councilman Robert Stokes who runs the 12th District said people now have something positive to look forward to.
On the corner of North Central and Orleans Street, a new super market, pharmacy and retail stores are being built to provide residents with more resources and to fill the void of a food desert in the area.
“We had a food desert for a long time in the city but especially in the 12th District,” Stokes said.
When it comes to having access to fresh produce for many people, the lack of it has never crossed their minds, but for some neighbors in East Baltimore the food desert has been an ongoing issue.
Neighbors like Ted and Earnestine Walker are both seniors who’ve lived in the area for years. They say they’ve watched every supermarket in the neighborhood close its doors forcing them to commute far for groceries.
“It’s hard to get vegetables and stuff like that around here. Because there’s nowhere to get no vegetables a supermarket like she said you got to go at least two or three miles out in the county to go to a market. Thank God for the one under the bridge because we would be out of luck,” Ted said.
“See everybody in here don’t drive or have somebody to take them, they have to use public transportation. Trying to carry groceries on the bus, I don’t want to have to ever do that,” Earnestine said.
Earnestine spends about an hour commuting for groceries while Ted utilizes the farmers market underneath the JFX bridge once a week. They also accept donations of fresh produce from different organizations that visit their senior living facility and it’s part of what helps them get by.
“Once a month they’ll bring produce like cabbage, greenz, sweet potato stuff like that,” Earnestine said.
Which is why they are thrilled to learn about a new market being built within a mile of their home, restoring the opportunity for fresh and healthier eating habits for all.
“They so excited because now we have a real supermarket where they can get fresh vegetables that’s been missing in our community for a long time,” Stokes said.
The timeline on the completion of the supermarket is unclear, but developers have already started laying the foundation on that corner.
