By Hannah Werle / Jambar Contributor
Youngstown’s status as a food desert seems to have a solution — a grocery store. This solution isn’t as simple as it seems, leading local nonprofits to find other remedies for the problem.
Erin Bishop, Youngstown’s health commissioner, said supermarkets are deferring to areas like Poland or Canfield, which has made the city consider different methods for bringing groceries to residents.
“I was on all the meetings with them and trying to get a grocery store here. People don’t want to set up a grocery store here,” Bishop said. “So we kind of are like, ‘Okay, what do we do now?’ Well, maybe look into more of those farmers markets and co-ops, where people can kind of come in and sell their products. So that’s what we’re thinking about … now, because the grocery store is just not happening.”
Without a grocery store, many organizations have formed to help the community with food access. One such organization is ACTION, or Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods, a nonprofit organization that helps with food access via its Mobile Markets.
Working with Flying High Inc., ACTION’s Mobile Markets are low-cost grocery stores on wheels. The markets, which operate Tuesdays through Saturdays in both Trumbull and Mahoning Counties, bring fresh produce, meats and other groceries to community spaces and apartment buildings.
The Rev. Jeff Stanford, executive director, said ACTION tries to help people by working in the community and advocating for Youngstown’s residents, especially those in low-income and marginalized groups.
“ACTION has to be [the] one that speaks up for those who don’t have a voice themselves. And so it is our job to say, ‘Listen, this is what we need. This is what we demand. This is what our community needs, and we’re not going to stop fighting until we get it,’” Stanford said.
ACTION isn’t the only organization bringing food to Youngstown’s residents. United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley has several programs to help with food access, such as the Saturday of Caring event.
The Saturday of Caring is a monthly event where volunteers pack fresh and nonperishable food products that are delivered to Mahoning County residents in need. Roxann Sebest, vice president of United Way, said the event started during the COVID-19 pandemic and has grown since then.
“We have a list of 465 families, seniors, individuals, shut-ins, that either have difficulty getting to the grocery store, whether they have no transportation — some of them are families that have special needs kids, [so] they may work, but getting to the grocery store is just an added burden to them,” Sebest said.
Sebest said another initiative is United Way’s care closets, which provide food, hygiene products, clothing and more to local schools.
In addition, the Bon Secours Mercy Health Foundation provides funding and support for those helping residents within the food desert.
Jessica Romeo, community health educator for the health foundation, is a manager for the foundation’s Community Health Events grant. The grant supports the Mobile Markets, health fairs, cooking classes and more.
Romeo, a registered licensed dietitian, teaches cooking classes to community members. She explained the importance of healthy food education and how it can help those who struggle because of the food desert.
“When you get people’s hands on something, they are engaged, and when they’re engaged, it makes them want to make those changes in their life and feel empowered to do so,” Romeo said.
Alongside the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley and its outreach branch, the Healthy Community Partnership-Mahoning Valley, Romeo is working to bring a year-round farmers market to the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County-Main in downtown Youngstown.
Romeo said she hopes the market will be running by summer.
HCP-MV is a community coalition that collects data for the city, advocates for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — also known as food stamps — and provides food education, such as gardening and cooking classes.
Robin Perry, network coordinator, said although HCP-MV helps with these initiatives, it works primarily as a support system and network for the organizations within the coalition.
“While one organization can do something smaller, when these organizations are able to pull their resources and people together, they can do something larger and ideally on the systems level … to have a greater impact,” Perry said.
While these organizations’ efforts do help treat the food desert, many of them still emphasize the need for a grocery store.
Guy Coviello, president and CEO of the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber, said there may be a chance for the city to get a supermarket.
In collaboration with the Economic Action Group, the chamber is developing a strategic plan for downtown Youngstown. This will include strategies to attract businesses, residents and events to the area. Simultaneously, The Montrose Group LLC is working on a plan for the rest of the city that will focus on housing and corridor development.
Coviello said the plans should include implementation steps to attract grocery stores.
“One of the things that we will, I’m sure, look at is what types of businesses are already there, and what types of businesses do we need there? And so certainly, grocery stores will come up as a type of business that we need there. And the plan should come up with some strategies as to how to attract one,” Coviello said.
Stanford said ACTION’s goal is to bring a grocery store into the city, but in the meantime, it will help the community in the ways it can.
“I will never understate the fact that we do need a big-box grocery store,” Stanford said. “But, Lord knows when that will come. All I can know is that we’ll continue to fight for it, and until then, we’ll continue to make the necessary adjustments to balance the scales of what’s needed in our community.”
Cutlines:
“Saturday of Caring” – The United Way’s Saturday of Caring provides Mahoning Valley residents with fresh fruits, bread, cereal, milk, canned foods and more.
“Saturday of Caring 2” – Volunteers from local schools and organizations gather groceries into bags that are then delivered to households across the Mahoning Valley at the Saturday of Caring event.
“Roxann Sebest” – Roxann Sebest helps the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley organize the Saturday of Caring and several other food access initiatives.
“Mobile Market” – ACTION’s Mobile Markets sell inexpensive groceries such as frozen foods, bread, dairy products and fresh fruits and vegetables.
