The Food Swamp that is
Downtown Augusta and the people and groups trying to change it
All photography by Leigh Beeson Writings (in order of appearance): Beth Quick, Rachel Latremouille, and Leigh Beeson
The Food Swamp that is Downtown Augusta
and the people and groups trying to change it Leigh Beeson, Rachel Latremouille, and Beth Quick HONORS 3900 - Cooking Up Culture Drs. Angela Bratton and Marie Drews Spring 2014
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the basics of Harrisburg By Beth Quick
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he community of Harrisburg has existed since the 18th century. However, what was once a thriving community filled with mills, churches, corner stores, and grocers is now somewhat of a desert, especially when it comes to healthy foods. When the mills closed down, many of the people living in the area left, causing the corner stores and grocers to lose business and close. Other mercantiles followed the citizen’s move to suburbia, essentially going where the money was moving. Harrisburg is now more or less seen as a low-income part of Augusta and has been officially deemed a “food desert,” given that there is a lack of fresh food availability in the community. Comparatively, there are convenient stores selling the bare necessities and fast food joints for meals on the go. Recently, however, there have been efforts aimed at bringing fresh food to the Harrisburg area, in the hopes of improving accessiblity to fresh foods and, as a result, improving the overall health - both physical and economical - of the community. Some of these efforts include a “veggie truck” and the establishment of the West
End Market and Bakery and Hexemaus Farms. The Veggie Truck Market brings fresh produce straight from the farms to sell to the residents of Harrisburg. The West End Market and Bakery and Hexemaus Farms was established this year in hopes of transforming the community into more of a destination. While these are good ideas in theory, the residents of Harrisburg gave some pros and cons to the new implementations within their community. “The veggie truck and new bakery are great additions to our community,” said Ryan McClay, a resident of Harrisburg and a Georgia Regents University student. “Before, we did not have much access to fresh food that was within a close distance. Now, we have better access to healthy food.” Although many may feel that the new establishments are great improvements, others have certain concerns. Mary Jones, an elderly resident of Harrisburg, expressed doubts over the viability of the new providers. “Our community does need more access to food, but these businesses they are bringing in are too pricey,” she explained. “They can’t expect us to be able to pay that much money for food.” Another resident of Harrisburg, Larry Crawford,
agreed, saying, “It is good that they are trying to bring in food access to my community, but it’s too expensive. I would be better off taking the bus to Walmart. It would be cheaper.” After talking to these residents, it becomes obvious that the perception of the prices of the goods being sold hampers the number of residents who feel comfortable shopping in the new markets. Crawford explained that many people within his community do not own vehicles, including himself, and that many of them simply walk or take the bus to procure groceries. He was all for a grocery store being put into the community, but the prices of specialty markets like the West End were too high. He said that if prices were to be more reasonable, then he would consider shopping in the new places; for the time being, though, it makes more sense economically for him to travel to lower-priced grocers. The access to fresh produce is a huge improvement and a step in the right direction according to community members, but the concept of access isn’t just referring to physical access but also whether access is within the individuals’ monetary means. The bakery and the “veggie truck” employees are
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still making efforts to inform the residents of Harrisburg of the benefits of the healthy foods they offer and of any economic incentives they offer, according to the Neighborhood Association of Harrisburg. The Association emphasized that the implementation of community gardens would improve accessibility to healthy foods within the community at perhaps a lesser cost than shopping in the West End Market. Also, with more business comes lower cost. The association expressed that the main problem with the new implementations to the area is that they are cost-prohibitive. It is clear that more communication within the community about the benefits of produce and the ways in which the prices could be lowered is a must. Residents of Harrisburg were very excited to see that people were making efforts to improve their community; however, the downfall came with the costs of the improvements. Jones and Crawford both said they would prefer to shop within their own community, assuming the prices were somehow reduced. From these comments, it is obvious that the residents are open to spending money in their community and intend to do so when and if it becomes economically fea-
sible. Harrisburg has a long way to go in regards to improving their fresh food access and overall community health. The access is there, but the knowledge and money is not. When talking with some of the residents of Harrisburg, they simply mentioned that they did not know much about the new businesses except for the fact that shopping there was expensive. It became clear that word-of-mouth had prompted some individuals to write off visiting the establishments because others said they were pricey. This shows that they need to be better educated on the new developments within the community, as the Veggie Truck Market offers EBT benefits to customers and the West End Market offers educational opportunities to members of the community at no charge. It is possible that with more knowledge of the new developments, the community would be more apt to use these businesses. Hopefully, the new businesses will be able to provide more information to the community about the benefits they offer, and more of the community will be able to patronize the “veggie truck” and the bakery.
the West End Market & Bakery
By Rachel Latremouille
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he West End Market and Bakery, located at 1808 Broad Street in Harrisburg’s downtown area is truly one of a kind in the area. Owner Sandi Johnson started the West End Market and Bakery in January 2014 with the purpose of allowing local farmers to sell produce in a permanent spot, instead of having to travel around to different farmers markets, which in turn allows them to sell more of their produce and reach a wider consumer base. “I knew it was a good idea, but I didn’t know how good of an idea it would be,” Johnson said, talking about her idea to start the store. In addition to owning the store, Johnson is also the owner of Hexemaus farms, which is located in Waynesboro, Georgia. She began growing vegetables in a garden for her son, and they kept expanding the garden, eventually turning it into a farm. All of the vendors who sell their produce and other
goods at the market are required to be within a 100mile radius of the store to ensure that they are indeed local businesses, and all produce sold at the store is organic and/or sustainably grown. Currently, the West End Market and Bakery has around 20 vendors, selling items that span as wide as plants, produce, meat, and even goat cheese. However, the community in which the bakery is located is what makes it so unique. The West End Market and Bakery is located in the community of Harrisburg, which is a lower income neighborhood in downtown Augusta. Although the West End Market and Bakery is fairly new to the community of Harrisburg, it is already having an impact because it is allowing the residents to have more access to healthy foods. Harrisburg has been designated a “food desert” because of the lack of grocery stores and places to purchase wholesome foods in the surrounding areas. Compounding the issue,
many of the residents in the neighborhood do not have cars, leaving them with little options apart from convenience stores for food and groceries. Public transportation to the nearest WalMart is also an option, but Augusta’s public transit system is lacking, to say the least, in comparison to larger cities in the Southeast. Johnson said that previously many of the residents’ “only option for groceries was walking down to Kroger,” some distance from Harrisburg’s downtown. and that it is not just The West End Market and Bakery that is making a difference, but the Veggie Truck Market as well. Both the Veggie Truck Market and the West End Market and Bakery are working to provide the residents of Harrisburg with more access to fresh produce. Johnson said they hope to eventually turn the socalled “food desert” into a “food hub.” Each week, more people from the Harrisburg community are coming into the store; however, not all of the residents of the
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community are purchasing produce from the store. “I think our biggest challenge is getting them to overcome the initial shock,” Johnsons said, referring to the difference in price from a regular grocery store. However, she said that she “hopes to educate them on the difference between eating pesticide-free organic stuff versus what you buy from the grocery store.” Johnson and others are working to educate the residents of the community on the benefits of healthy eating, in addition to providing fresh produce for purchase. Johnson said even if the residents do not end up buying produce from the store, she is hoping to help teach them to learn to grow their own produce. “We’re doing a courtyard garden here, the Veggie Truck is working with St. Luke’s on their garden out back, and we’ve also been talking to the woman who runs the community garden in Harrisburg,” Johnson said. “So even if we can’t get them to shop and buy local produce, we can teach them
to grow their own.” This is great for the community because “even if they are on public assistance, they can buy seeds,” Johnson explained, which will allows individuals to get a greater amount of fresh produce at a lower price once the plants have developed. In addition, Johnson hopes that having the store in Harrisburg will bring other stores and people into the area, which will allow more money to go back into the community. The market is just part of the push to bring retailers and life back to downtown Harrisburg to revitalize what some consider a dying area. Although the West End Market is fairly new, it has already started to make an impact on Harrisburg. Not only will it allow residents of the community to have access to fresh produce, it will provide education on the benefits of eating healthy and, hopefully, help to turn the “food desert” into a “food hub.”
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the Veggie Truck Market By Leigh Beeson
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rett Heimlich started the Veggie Truck Market because he believed it could make a difference in the lives of the people of Harrisburg. Heimlich and some fellow Georgia Regents University medical students had moved into the community in 2009 and quickly noticed the dearth of accessible fresh produce. Most residents simply frequented the area’s convenience stores for necessities like milk and bread and relied heavily upon fastfood chains for easy, quick meals. If Heimlich or his friends wanted fresh vegetables, they had to jump in the car and drive to the nearest supermarket, which for many was the Kroger on 15th Street, quite a distance from their homes in Harrisburg. Heimlich quickly realized the connection between the locals’ health problems – obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and so forth – and their diet. Many of the individuals living in Harrisburg had little to no experience cooking and consuming fresh produce and were instead subsisting on diets heavy in saturated fats, cholesterol, and high caloric content. “At first we tried to do a series of educational (seminars) to educate people who had diabetes on how to manage their disease,” Heimlich said. “What spawned out of that was (the idea) that we needed to focus on food and how that would become a primary determinant for a lot of these diseases.” The goal, then, wasn’t just to introduce the community to fresh, local foods; it was to educate them on liv-
ing a healthy lifestyle in the hopes of preventing health issues. Heimlich and his co-organizers quickly realized the best way of increasing access to such goods was to bring the vegetables and fruits to the community rather than expect the community members to go to the farms. Thus the two-yearold Veggie Truck Market was born. At first, Heimlich wanted the Veggie Truck to follow the old-school ice cream truck model, with the truck driving through the community handing out fresh produce to interested individuals. “I had this vision of kids running at me clutching their dollar, and I’d hand them a stalk of broccoli and they would remember me,” Heimlich said. “Clearly, if you happen to live there, you realize that’s maybe not quite how things work, especially when you’re up against forces like the ice cream guy.” This model didn’t pan out, though, as there did not appear to be much interest. Heimlich often ended up giving away leftover produce he couldn’t sell, something that the farmers undoubtedly did not appreciate. Further, it was questionable whether the given-away produce was even being consumed. In response, he altered his plan, establishing the Veggie Truck Market with the assistance of Kim Hines, the director of the nonprofit organization Augusta Locally Grown. Augusta Locally Grown attempts to connect citizens with local farmers through in-person and online farmers markets, encouraging the practice of eating and buying local, sustainable
goods. Hines encouraged Heimlich to pursue a stationary, traditional market during the growing season, which he was able to do with the assistance of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, where the market was based for a time. One of the Veggie Truck Market supporters later covered the fees for renting the A.L. Williams Park in the middle of Harrisburg’s downtown area for a year (mid-March through mid-October) because of the location’s high visibility and the opportunity to attract people going to and from the KROC Center. The park was already a community gathering spot, so the market’s weekly presence there allows community members to simply walk over from their homes to purchase fresh foods and interact with local farmers. One of Heimlich’s proudest achievements was the partnership between the Veggie Truck Market and Wholesome Wave Market, which enables the vendors to essentially double the value of customers’ food stamps and EBT credits through government grants. This not only puts healthy food more within many of the community members’ means but also ensures that farmers get paid the full amount for their goods, as the government foots half of the bill for the consumers. Hines said making sure the farmers get fair market value for their goods was key to the success of the Veggie Truck Market. The condition for becoming a Wholesome Wave Market participant was that all produce vendors must be certified organic farmers using sustainable practices.
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However, with that organic label comes a steeper price tag because organic practices are more labor-intensive and yield less than conventional farming methods. But the Wholesome Wave grant is meant to counteract this, bringing organic, healthy foods into a more modest price range. Heimlich and Hines both emphasized that the Veggie Truck Market was more than just supplying an underserved community with fresh produce and goods, saying it was an educational opportunity, a chance to effect change in the way the community and future generations view foodways. Hines said Augusta Locally Grown and the Veggie Truck Market offer classes and workshops on gardening, cooking, and the importance of eating seasonally and locally. “Ninety-five percent of the job I do is about educating people about what it means to eat seasonally and local but also what it means to grow seasonally, to grow food,” Hines said. “I’ve lived in a lot of places throughout the country and internationally as well, and I’ve seen what a vibrant, local food community can do for an area, and it’s fabulous. There’s a fabulous strength economically, environmentally, and communally that comes into play when farmers are embraced as key players in their community.” Hines said she believes part of the reason this type of farmers market movement hasn’t taken hold in Augusta is because the local, independent farm movement is more associated with leftist politics. She thinks this
notion is misled, though, as there shouldn’t be inherent political motives behind a movement that emphasizes health and the value of supporting one’s local economy through buying locally. “If you remove the politics from it and just add some common sense to the mix, it’s just really obvious that eating local kale is not only healthier for the community, but it’s way better tasting,” Hines said. “If you can’t appeal to people on the economic side, if you can’t appeal to them on the health side, well, what about the basic this just tastes better?” Along with the educational component of the Veggie Truck Market and the local foods movement comes the necessity of academic research, the likes of which have been conducted in New York, rural Texas, and California. This kind of research is necessary for the pursuit of government grants and assistance that could enable the market to expand and serve a larger area. Luckily for the Veggie Truck Market, Heimlich and his coworkers recently received a grant from GRU to analyze the effects of the Veggie Truck Market on the Harrisburg community. “If we had data to support the Veggie Truck, then we’re talking about affecting food policies maybe at the very small level at first, you know, just within Augusta or just between counties,” Heimlich said. “But I think beyond that we are able to prove it’s a good model, then it’s something other people could replicate and bring to their own communities.”
so what does this all mean? By Leigh Beeson, Rachel Latremouille, and Beth Quick
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ecause of the newness of the revitalization efforts in downtown Augusta and Harrisburg, it is difficult to determine the effects of establishments like the West End Market and Bakery and the Veggie Truck Market. Obviously, the increased access to healthy foods is crucial to changing how people within the community view food and healthy living, but the educational aspect of the movement is just as important as the actual introduction to fresh produce and may, in fact, prove to be the vital element determining the success or failure of the healthy, local foods push in Harrisburg. Both Sandi Johnson, the owner of the West End Bakery and Hexemaus Farms, and Brett Heimlich and Kim Hines, of the Veggie Truck Market and Augusta Locally Grown, emphasized that healthy living isn’t just about telling people to eat more fruits and vegetables. It’s about educating them on why eating locally grown and seasonal produce is important - the positive environmental and economical effects practicing sustainable farming can have on a community, the nation, and the world. A community cannot grow without resources, and Harrisburg is sorely lacking. These new efforts at increasing foot traffic in Harrisburg aim to increase business and therefore revenue. If these busi-
nesses are successful, they will be able to give back to the community, both through charity and volunteer work, as they are already doing, and through their taxes. Further, localizing the food system and encouraging sustainable farming practices in Harrisburg and beyond will be beneficial to the state of the physical environment of the community as well. There is a lot of dead space in Harrisburg, areas where broken-down trucks are stored or dilapidated buildings are serving as informal hang-outs for youths or homeless individuals. These areas could easily be converted into community garden space, which would provide members of the community with fresh produce and beautify the area. It’s about explaining how to cook and serve these new fresh foods. Giving individuals access to locally grown, organic kale is great, but it doesn’t do any good if the consumers don’t know how to prepare it. In fact, if they prepare it poorly, it may even have a detrimental effect on how those individuals view healthy foods. Additionally, communication within the community must increase, as many individuals in Harrisburg were unaware of the extra, free educational and volunteer opportunities provided by the West End Market and the Veggie Truck Market. Many simply believed the markets were out of their reach financially. So instead of going to check out the establishments in person themselves, they simply
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heard others say they were too expensive and wrote them off as not viable options for their purchasing needs. Therefore, the keys to successfully executing thsese revitalization efforts are education and communication within the community. It’s about developing relationships within a community, between different farmers, between farmers and consumers, and between individuals within the community. The markets serve as community space where interactions can occur safely in non-threatening environments. Harrisburg’s crime problem can be partially attributed to the decline in morals and sense of community. The new establishments are attempting to reconnect the members of the community with one another and with their local food providers. They are localizing what has become a global, impersonal food system. The West End Market and the Veggie Truck Market are just the beginning of what is planned for Harrisburg. However, to some extent, the implementation of further revitalization efforts may well be based on the success or failure of these ventures. This means that it is imperative for these markets to not only succeed but to thrive and hopefully expand to bigger and better ventures. Some may argue that low-income areas like Harrisburg cannot sustain businesses like the West End Market or that putting a farmers market in the downtown area of
the community is a waste of time because no one will buy anything and the farmers will lose money. But that’s where creativity and ingenuity come into play. Through government grants and marketing efforts, communities like Harrisburg may very well be able to sustain such enterprises. Additionally, people from the larger Augusta community frequent these places as well, as there aren’t really any substantial comparisons in downtown Augusta. On a moral level, though, it is exactly these kinds of areas that desperately need venues like the Veggie Truck Market. Harrisburg doesn’t have grocery stores, and many of its citizens have no mode of transportation. What better way to grant them access to fresh fruits and vegetables than to bring the goods to them? And more than that, these establishments are trying to make a difference in the lives of the community members by offering invaluable educational opportunities that could very well change these individuals’ lives in terms of health and of personal growth and fulfillment. So why shouldn’t we support any efforts to change our community for the better, to take care of our fellow man? After all, that’s what the West End and Veggie Truck markets are trying to do, and with the wider community’s help and support, imagine what Harrisburg could become. But that can only happen if we make the conscious effort to support them.
The adventure really does start here in Augusta’s Harrisburg. Will you do your part to aid the revitalization efforts for a better, healthier community?
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For more information, be sure to check out the West End Market and Bakery on Broad Street across from the KROC Center and the Veggie Truck Market on Tuesdays from 4 to 7 p.m. in downtown Harrisburg’s A. L. Williams Park.