Submitted by locker1313 t3_118yllc in baltimore
Comments
YoYoMoMa t1_j9jwt5c wrote
>So many neighborhoods only have bodegas and not a lot of major grocery stores
This is a choice by our lawmakers, not a coincidence. Our tax and infrastructure and zoning system make things like Canton Crossing far more advantaged than stores that would actually be walkable for the neighborhood.
DfcukinLite t1_j9k1qml wrote
Canton crossing is built on chemically contaminated industrial land they just changed the zoning to allow that mess.
YoYoMoMa t1_j9k2fvn wrote
And they gave the developer free money (tifs) to do it. And they provided the infrastructure as well.
DfcukinLite t1_j9k2w5l wrote
Mark Sapperstein has gotten many of those tifs and land grab superfund sites. He’s the developer of locust point/mchenry row, Canton and the residential of port Covington
A_P_Dahset t1_j9mvv1c wrote
>This is a choice by our lawmakers, not a coincidence. Our tax and infrastructure and zoning system...
This is very true and key to understanding why Baltimore looks and operates the way it does today. Racist public policy and historic disinvestment are real and still felt, but present-day policy choices of our elected leaders (city and state), specifically in regards to taxes, infrastructure, and zoning, exacerbate the impact of those harmful policies from decades ago. We'd be better off as a city if a critical mass of residents kept this idea front of mind and took lawmakers to task accordingly.
DfcukinLite t1_j9k1iwz wrote
Bodegas fill the void in many cases. I love that they’re popular here as they are in nyc. The quality just needs to be the same as nyc in many cases.
moderndukes t1_j9km5h8 wrote
Convenience stores are usually more expensive then actual grocery stores and usually don’t have the freshest/least-processed options possible.
umbligado t1_j9lzsjq wrote
Worth mentioning, Baltimore has been experimenting with getting more fresh produce to corner stores since around 2014.
I’m not sure how well it’s gone, and assume that coronavirus put a dent in those efforts.
For many, sometimes proximity is well worth the higher prices. Obviously not the best full grocery experience, but often that’s a real gap.
moderndukes t1_j9mcmnj wrote
I recall this program, I believe it’s a Federal effort. From my experience in my neighborhood, though, I’m unsure of its impact - but data might prove me wrong.
I do agree that proximity usually trumps quality, especially in neighborhoods with limited options and populations which predominately don’t have private transportation. However, that’s also why prioritizing those underserved areas with quality grocers providing healthier options should be the focus, because that can also do the most positive impact.
Like I live in an area that is now considered a food desert after the closing of Mount Clare Junction’s supermarket and my car’s been in the shop for over a week - if I was less financially fortunate I would be having a tough time finding fresh grocery options via my local corner stores (they’re almost all of the plexiglass model where almost all the area within is prioritized to snacks, sodas, and tobacco and you’re lucky to find produce, fresh baked goods, or good dairy).
CaptainObvious110 t1_j9ru61r wrote
What do you propose be done then?
moderndukes t1_j9ry9ce wrote
What’s been shown in studies is that groceries stores are far healthier than corner stores. That leads me to either incentivizing the development of full groceries or other fresh food outlets in these communities (I’m not a tax professional or lawyer or anything so I can’t speak to how specifically to do so), or collective/government action that either creates spaces for such or runs such (as in, creating more food markets (not food halls) and keeping those spaces well-funded and renovated, or running grocery stores).
Personally I would prefer collective solutions that promote community and potentially keep money in the community/region rather than some TIFs for national/international chains, but again I’m not an expert. But I have seen both expansion/reinforcement of city markets and establishing government-run groceries in the most affected communities as solutions before from advocates and officials so it’s not a wild idea.
DfcukinLite t1_j9kmo3m wrote
This is not true for corner store/bodegas.
moderndukes t1_j9kogrq wrote
Two stories about NYC bodegas doesn’t mean anything to Baltimore’s corner stores and convenience stores. Baltimore does not have bodegas. I’m surprised the second even contends that DC “has a bodega culture” because it 100% does not.
Our corner stores look closer to 7/11s than they do grocery stores. They don’t actually fill the food desert gap in our city.
DfcukinLite t1_j9vzzcw wrote
You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Let me guess you’re extremely white and grew up in the suburbs? So let me teach you.
Baltimore does definitely have corner stores/bodegas. They are the same thing. Our corner stores/bodega are small business by immigrants. Not 7/11 which are nothing of the same (sounds racial)
https://communityarchitectdaily.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-corner-store-blight-or-savior-of.html?m=1
https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/pdf/10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0632
moderndukes t1_j9waizd wrote
Did you literally just rage-delete all of your very downvoted responses to me to copy-paste and reply them again so the karma would reset? Wow. That’s just kinda sad.
DfcukinLite t1_j9wld1j wrote
Yup because I’m not wrong 🙃
moderndukes t1_j9wuo9r wrote
Deleting comments because everybody in the city subreddit disagreed with you just to preserve Internet points and to make it seem like you weren’t so horribly wrong (especially when the thread can still be accessed otherwise…) is possibly the saddest and most narcissistic things I’ve seen on here. And per reveddit this seems to be your MO, along with insults and ad hominem attacks.
[deleted] t1_j9kr8dc wrote
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moderndukes t1_j9kus7m wrote
Ad hominem attacks aren’t going to help you - and I’ve never heard anyone from here call them bodegas, just NYC transplants. (Notice how none of what you just linked to, which are actually about Baltimore this time, say the word “bodega” once? Yeah…)
From your first article: > Most probably never paid the prices that these stores charge for the hot dogs, snacks and other packaged goods they sell and which are usually higher than those for similar items in a Harris Teeter, Trader Joe's or Wegmans.
So they’re more expensive…
From the third article (the study): > Study Results At baseline, our sample of 118 stores had a mean healthy food availability score of 7.06 (standard deviation: 4.28) (Exhibit 1). Behind-glass stores had the lowest overall healthy food availability (4.53 points), followed by convenience stores (5.14 points), corner stores (5.96 points), and supermarkets (16.31 points). In multivariate models, corner stores differed significantly from both supermarkets and behind-glass stores but not convenience stores.
So convenience stores and corner stores are helathier than nothing, but overall below average and significantly worse than a grocery store.
Your own articles agree with me that they are more expensive and don’t provide as good of healthy / processed-heavy options.
Now if you do want to talk about race without just resorting to calling me racist out of nowhere, here’s another finding from that third link, the study:
> Stores in census tracts with more than 60 percent black residents had the lowest scores at baseline (6.40 versus 8.19 in tracts with more than 60 percent white residents and 8.76 in tracts without a majority).
That aligns with the food desert crisis in Baltimore disproportionately affecting majority Black communities. It aligns with the city’s history of redlining and disproportionately lower investment outside the White L. You see it all the time on here too with people yearning for Trader Joe’s in their affluent neighborhoods while corner stores seem to be “good enough” for the places that actually need good grocery stores.
Here’s a link to the food desert map from 2015 (the year of that study) so you can see how it aligns with both the study results and the Black Butterfly.
DfcukinLite t1_j9vzue2 wrote
First of all. Corner store and bodega are interchangeable. You didn’t actually read any of the articles. Because bodega is the Spanish word for corner store. And yes the three previous links are indeed about Baltimore. Here they are again. No shit prices are higher at small businesses.
“The irony is that corner stores have made a come-back in many come-back neighborhoods. Bakeries, coffee shops, even occasional butcher shops have sprung up in the revitalizing communities of Remington, Hampden and Washington Village. In Pigtown's "main street" on Washington Boulevard Ms Pugh herself ran a consignment store while she was State Senator, celebrating the renaissance of retail there. Of course, most of those corner stores in the disenfranchised neighborhoods in Harlem Park, Sandtown, Park Heights and Rosemont are a far cry from their reincarnated brethren on revitalized "main streets". But are they any less useful? In neighborhoods where more than 30% of buildings are vacant sagging hulls and where up to 75% of households have no access to cars those stores are one of the few places that provide a sign of life. For example, all of the feature ATMs, and a way to get cash in communities that to this day are "redlined" by banks. Shuttering the ones that are not so well run or cause frequent disturbances would certainly not mean that another, better one would magically appear. It would most likely mean that even fewer services are available and another building would stand vacant.”
“The organization of Korean store owners (KARGO) started a scholarship program 23 years ago. with annual grants going to students in neighborhoods where member stores are located. Mayor Rawlings Blake together with Johns Hopkins had begun an initiative of enticing corner stores to sell fresh foods and reduce the problem of food deserts (Baltimarket) although from several defunct weblinks it isn't clear if the program still continues. Zoning and the liquor board have addressed the problem of too many liquor stores.” Source:https://communityarchitectdaily.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-corner-store-blight-or-savior-of.html?m=1
“Lee’s Mini Market serves a community that is 97% Black and where half of families live below the poverty level, where there are few shopping options and limited access to healthy food. As in most corner stores, the shelves at the market are stocked primarily with non-perishables: chips, canned soup, plastic-wrapped desserts and soda. It also has a limited selection of healthier offerings, such as rice and dried beans, lettuce, frozen vegetables, bananas, potatoes and onions.”
Source:https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/local-news/lees-mini-market-west-baltimore-WYBL6RZYM5GY5LSQFG2VH5R6IE/
“ABSTRACT As part of a 2009 revision to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, the Department of Agriculture required WIC-authorized stores to stock additional varieties of healthy food. The long-term effects of this policy on access to healthy food are unknown. Using surveys conducted in 118 Baltimore City, Maryland, food stores in 2006 and 2012, we examined associations of the change in healthy food availability with store type, neighborhood demographics, and the 2009 WIC policy change. Overall, healthy food availability improved significantly between 2006 and 2012, with the greatest increases in corner stores and in census tracts with more than 60 percent black residents. On an 11-point scale measuring availability of fruit (3 points), vegetables (4 points), bread (2 points), and milk (2 points), the WIC policy change was associated with a 0.72-point increase in WIC-relevant healthy food availability, while joining WIC was associated with a 0.99-point increase. Stores that carry a limited variety of food items may be more receptive to stocking healthier food than previously thought, particularly within neighborhoods with a majority of black residents. Policies targeting healthy food availability have the potential to increase availability and decrease health disparity.” Source: https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/pdf/10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0632
[deleted] t1_j9kwdft wrote
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theyoungbloody t1_j9kcf0g wrote
Yeah this neighborhood is losing this bodega (which went way downhill) but Northeast market is like 3 blocks north of here.
DfcukinLite t1_j9lifui wrote
And is an actual market, not a bougie food court.
CaptainObvious110 t1_j9rttjm wrote
Thank you. I'm glad someone else understands and cares about that.
TrhwWaya t1_j9lios3 wrote
Fuck. No more corner stores in my neighborhood please. They don't help the economy, don't help shopping, don't service anything beyond a coca cola....and have typically been under invested crime hubs.
Unlucky_Charms1 t1_j9mm10z wrote
Economy of the clients?
TrhwWaya t1_j9mv5kg wrote
Bodegas typically contribute to food dessert conditions, per the health department. They take apples and make them 5 times the price..while selling sugary snack food at better profit margins at cheap prices.
Nbd to those w disposable income, but makes it hard for the poorest to eat healthy.
DfcukinLite t1_j9rurb4 wrote
Have you ever bought organic produce from a farms market or sprouts or moms they’re these same prices. And you can pay food stamps
TrhwWaya t1_j9rvob9 wrote
Unfortunately, sprouts looks amazing while I let my dog play at barksocial next door to it. B
After first look at prices in Sprouts...I went right back to shopping at aldis.
The aldis in 21224 is the bomb yo. So much faster shopping too.
Main-Equipment-3207 t1_j9jqzsh wrote
So many neighborhoods only have bodegas and not a lot of major grocery stores which is so frustrating. This is a good step.