“Everyone has the right to fresh food in our city, especially a city like Atlanta.”
But Atlanta City Councilmember Marci Collier Overstreet says many residents in the southwest section of the city aren’t getting that. Plain and simple, there are few - if any - fresh food options.
“You have predatory behavior that comes in when you don’t have grocery stores,” Overstreet tells WSB Radio. “Gas stations will be offering loaves of bread that are probably expired and cost five dollars, because there’s not a grocery store close by.”
She says there isn’t a single grocery store along a full six mile stretch of Campbellton Road, within her District 11. “The fact that Campbellton Road is such a huge commercial corridor with no real nameable grocery store is just horrible,” Overstreet says. “(Residents) either have to pay more for the basics, like eggs and bread and milk, or we have to travel where it’s definitely going to be more than one bus to get you to a decent grocery store.”
Now, Overstreet is attacking the problem with a new plan. Her legislation just passed by the City Council this week is aimed at incentivizing grocers to set-up shop with new stores in her district, as well as neighboring Districts 10 and 12.
The measure allocates $1.5 million for Economic Opportunity Fund grants that would hope to spur investment and development to deliver quality food and better access in underserved areas.
“This is actually ground-breaking. We’ve not had this type of equitable access incentive program, and certainly not for a grocery store,” Overstreet says.
Overstreet describes the over-arching effort to create better food access a labor of love for her for the past five years. Earlier attempts included visits to trade shows and conventions to try to sell development in the Campbellton Road area - with no luck. “It was disheartening,” she says.
Now, a fresh approach. Overstreet has a vision she’d love to see become reality.
“A fresh municipal market, south, would be fantastic, with a food hall attached to it. Where you can actually sit down and have meals and shop fresh food at the same time.”
But if not that, “I am not turning away anyone that would offer a really nice, decent-sized grocery store, that will service the entire area in a good way.”
The $1.5 million in funding will be managed by Invest Atlanta.