CHARLOTTE, N.C — If more than 30% percent of a community's residents live more than a mile from the nearest grocery store, it’s considered a food desert, according to federal standards.

And unfortunately, in North Carolina it’s a scenario too many neighborhoods are familiar with. In Charlotte, several communities are situated at least a 15-minute drive away from the nearest supermarket.

A gap like that leaves communities with limited food options.  

“Those corner stores only serve alcohol, sweets like snack food items and tobacco products. They may have a few meats, but it’s not a variety,” Lakeview resident Leondra Garrett says.
 
Food deserts are an issue community leaders and city officials want to address. Right now, the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners is considering a proposal to bring a grocery co-op to West Blvd. If approved, the 3 Sisters Market Cooperative will be the first grocery store in that community in more than two decades.

“West Blvd and West Charlotte as we know is home to lower education attainment, high unemployment rates, and low socio-economic status. Despite the corridor’s proximity to commercial and residential development, options for residents to get food only come from convenience stores or dollar stores,” Jordan Brooks-Adams, with the West Blvd Neighborhood Coalition, says.

For residents like Garrett who will now have to wait for a decision to be made, not having access to a grocery store is about more than inconvenience, it’s also about diet and health. The average life span for residents in Mecklenburg County is higher than that of the residents living in these food desert communities.

The median household income for the county is almost double the median household income for families on West Blvd. For Mecklenburg County, the median household income is $61,000, but for the West Blvd corridor the median income is $31,000.

The average life span of residents in these areas is also lower than the county’s average.