pedaling the truth
pedaling the truth Detroiter dispels ‘food desert’ myth By Eric Younan Detroiter Noah Stephens is so determined to dispel the myth of Detroit being a “food desert” he is personally riding his bicycle to each grocery store to check things out. Stephens is visiting each grocer within city limits where he takes photos, interviews customers and posts the results on his website, The- PeopleOfDetroit.com. Stephens is not doing this undertaking, The Detroit Food Desert Project, for money or fame. Instead, he’s doing it in part to improve the health of Detroiters and enhance the image of the only city in which he’s lived. “I wanted to get to the heart of dietary behavior in Detroit,” Stephens said. “So often you hear popular social commentators say it’s a matter of supply; people eat unhealthy food because that’s all they have access to. This narrative doesn’t jibe with my experience. It’s my experience that healthy food is available; many people simply choose not to buy it.” A food desert is defined as an area where affordable healthy food is difficult to obtain, particularly for those who live in low-income communities without access to an automobile. Detroit has been labeled as such since 2007, which is when the city’s last chain supermarket, Famer Jack, pulled up stakes and left the market for good. This moniker has been particularly hurtful to Chaldean grocers, who own an estimated 75 of the 80 or so supermarkets in Detroit. The food desert misnomer causes dissention between Detroiters and Chaldean grocers because it can imply that supermarket owners are part of the problem, not solution, because they do not carry fresh and healthy food. It also causes city and state authorizes to throw millions of dollars in financial incentives toward big box national retailers, such as Whole Foods and Meijer, to entice them to open stores in Detroit that are largely funded on the backs of taxpayers. Stephens’ photos focus on each store’s produce departments because the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables in the city is the core of the food desert debate. He can’t help but take it personally when he hears the term food desert and considers it baseless. “I think the person making that claim has probably never actually shopped for food in Detroit,” he said. “I was born and raised here. I’ve always been able to find healthy food in the city. One thing I love about doing the Detroit Food Desert Project is meeting other lifelong Detroiters who have had the same experience. I think their testimony effectively debunks the idea that healthy food is hard to find in the city.” Images from Noah Stephens’ visit to Atlas Market. Stephens isn’t the only one offended by the city’s misconceived status as a food desert. Neil Abro, owner of Atlas Market on Davison near Linwood, echoed Stephens’ sentiments. Atlas is one of the 10 stores Stephens visited so far. “I like Noah’s project and he’s doing a great job in proving to the people of Detroit that the negative things people are saying about independent grocers is a lie,” Abro said, adding that his store “buys produce daily and is fresh as any other seller’s in Michigan.” Matthew Loussia, chairman of Detroit Independent Grocers, said Stephens’ project could be a valuable tool for his association, which represents some 50 independent grocers, to battle media stories that continue to perpetuate the food desert stereotype. “It is very refreshing to see a Detroit citizen, one who was born in Detroit, lives in Detroit and shops in Detroit, to help in the fight to remove the untrue label of Detroit being a food desert,” Loussia said. “Many in the media who like to call Detroit a food desert will spend one day visiting a handful of stores and make their assumptions. Noah is the first I have come across who not only lives and shops in Detroit but who takes the time to actually visit many stores, and gets feedback and honest opinions. Detroit needs more citizens like Noah.” Stephens admits he went into the project with some preconceived notions of his own about the relationships between Chaldean grocers and Detroiters. “Doing the project has forced me to re-examine some of my assumptions about the supposedly contentious relationship between store owners of Middle Eastern heritage and their mostly black customers,” he said. “For example, when I went to Atlas Market on Davison and Linwood, it was obvious the owner took pride in the store and an interest in the wellbeing of in his customers. When I photographed the price of bananas, he exclaimed ‘39 cents! That’s a great price, right?!’ It actually is the lowest price I’ve seen so far.” When Stephens visited Eve’s Downtown Gourmet and asked a customer if he could photograph him, the customer actually consulted with one of the owners before he agreed. Stephens’ project caught the attention of WDIV Channel 4, which profiled the project on First Block on September 20. He also earned a sponsorship from Strategic Staffing Solutions and is actively seeking other corporate sponsors as he continues his supermarket visits. He also hopes his project will provide valuable research to Detroit policymakers who are studying the bad nutritional choices of Detroiters, particularly those in distressed areas. “I think it’s a question of demand rather than supply,” Stephens said. “If the problem is demand, then policy should be focused on increasing demand. We shouldn’t spend millions of dollars to subsidize urban farms if we already have grocery stores that offer fresh fruits and vegetables.” 34 CHALDEAN NEWS DECEMBER 2013
DECEMBER 2013 CHALDEAN NEWS 35
