Nonprofit grocery stores rehab America’s food deserts
“Nonprofit grocery stores are springing up with renewed fervor as a tried-and-true remedy for America’s increasing food insecurity problem. Why it matters: These models are filling food access gaps in budget, equity and mobility for low-income households across the country amid disintegrating safety nets and inflating financial pressures. Context: ‘Food deserts’ are primarily low-income communities that have little to no access to food retailers and affordable, nutritious food. The big picture: According to the latest USDA data, 76 counties nationwide are without a single grocery store, NPR reports. But communities expanding healthy food access through small grocers, local gardens and farmers’ markets are ‘ignored’ in traditional food desert mapping models, per a 2021 Brookings Institution report.