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Mattapan, East Boston as food deserts
By adamg on Wed, 06/11/2008 - 8:45pm
Because they don't have major supermarkets and so many residents must eat junk food from convenience stores, according to this Dig article.
Hmm, don't know about East Boston, but much of Mattapan is within a five or ten-minute drive of supermarkets in Roslindale and Hyde Park (and yes, I realize poor people are less likely to have cars).
Via Jimbo.
Neighborhoods:
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Comments
Of supermarket oasis
East Boston has a Shaws and a Super S&S with a Tarjay on 1A. Plus the many great small ethnic mini marts around Eastie. Looks like the Dig reporter did some crackerjack research for that article.
Seriously
I mean.....I shopped and shop at the Shaws for ages....and it has all this girl needs. It looks a bit dingy, but it's a standard supermarket, and GASP, I have been able to cook all kinds of meals that required odd ingredients and didn't have to go to a specialty store ;) So, this one does just fine. In addition, a few of our corner stores actually carry a fair amount of fresh fruit and vegetables.
That writer has clearly never been in Eastie. That pisses me off, making East Boston sounds like we are stuffing our faces with Cheetos and such. UGH.
Eastie fights back!
Actually, that little shopping center on Rt. 1A with Target and Super Stop & Shop is technically in Revere, but still, the Shaw's right in the heart of East Boston certainly throws this guy's thesis on its ear.
What I want to know is why Roslindale isn't a food desert by this standard? There's no "major" supermarket there at all; residents have to go to W.Roxbury or J.P. to do real grocery shopping.
Maybe it's too obvious
That Village Market is right in the middle of the square.
But you're right. I only do my fake grocery shopping there... and Quality Meats... and Bob's Pita Bakery... Because only driving to a supermarket can make shopping real.
I always shopped at Village Market
I always shopped at Village Market when I lived in Rozzie, and please forgive any implication that it is anything less than "real." Notwithstanding, it is tiny, is lacking in much choice amongst products (e.g., often stocks only one brand of certain things), and although the merchandise is of good quality, their prices are only slightly better than a convenience store. The article noted the lack of a "major" supermarket in certain areas, Gareth, and I'm sure you wouldn't try to argue that the Village Market is anything more than a small one. Adam, however, makes a separate and crucial point: Although the S&S on American Legion Highway is in a sketchy area (or at least it always seemed that way to me, but I haven't been there in more than 5 years), it is indeed within the boundaries of Roslindale.
I don't always
I don't always shop at Village Market. I probably buy more at Quality Meats and Bob's, and at Roche Bros. in West Rox. It's true that the Village Market is a small market and isn't sure to have the things one is looking for.
However, the article's argument -- that parts of Boston are "food deserts" where buying healthy food is almost impossible -- would be handily refuted by the presence of the Village Market and other shops right in the middle of the neighborhood. It's a shaky argument to begin with, and including Roslindale as a "food desert" would make it seem utterly absurd.
Not in the square, but ...
There's a Stop & Shop on American Legion Highway, which, granted, is kind of out there for some folks, but it's still Roslindale.
Also, I've always loved how Todesca's, an otherwise unassuming-looking convenience store on Washington Street, has both fresh fruit (try finding that at a Store 24) and an actual meat counter (and I'm always amazed how both it and the other convenience store right across the street both manage to stay in business).
Hmm, I'm beginning to get the feeling that maybe this guy's research was funded by the supermarket industry - and that it would have been a much more valid conclusion like 15 years ago, before the city made a concerted push to get actual supermarkets into parts of the city that didn't have them.
Not to mention.....
There's a Shaw's at the old Liberty Market Shopping plaza in East Boston next door to Kappy's. Yes, it's needful for some staples, but why not try some of the local places and try their foods instead?
Um not to mention that the
Um not to mention that the Shaws in that plaza is on a major bus line that runs through Revere/Chelsea/East Boston and runs every half hour or more.
The other Shaws and Stop and Shop in that area are accesible by subway as well. I live in that area and can also tell you there are several local shops in East Boston, and Chelsea has a downtown area with alot of shops as well along with a weekly farmers market.
In fact if you go to some of those fancier neighberhoods you will find some of those people have to drive over 5 miles to get to a supermarket.
Shaw's in Lower Mills, Dorchester
There's a Shaw's supermarket at Lower Mills in Dorchester. OK that's not quite Mattapan, but it's a short trolley ride away.
The guy's point
OK, been googlymooglying the author and he specializes in research and programs related to childhood nutrition and hunger, which are certainly valid topics to consider when looking at low-income neighborhoods in Boston - especially when given the rapid rise in food costs, which I'm going to guess is outpacing any increases in food-stamp allotments.
competing points
There's two issues kind of being squashed together in this story. There's the whole "food desert" thing. And then there's this issue about food stamps being woefully inadequate--which pretty much means it wouldn't matter if they built a giant Shaw's in the middle of Blue Hill Ave because nobody on public assistance can afford to buy their vegetables anyway.
Either way, it's kind of your typical hand-wringing alt-weekly story, heavy on official outrage and light on actual po' people. But that's another gripe entirely. I'm working on letting go. *grin*
Food in the East Boston area
Food in the East Boston area is actually cheaper than elsewhere. Ive gone shopping in East Boston/Chelsea/Revere then visited family in Tewksbury and Andover. Same stores, and somehow the price gets jacked up.
I understand how rising prices hurt families, and maybe they need more help, understood. The problem is he obviously hasnt been to those areas because otherwise he never would have said there were no options for these people, when in fact the food is cheapest in these areas. Take places like Save Alot for instance, not the best food but its by far the cheapest your ever gonna find, and there are bunches of little stores like that all over the East Boston area.
A Little Honesty Then?
If his issue is child nutrition (or lack thereof) and hunger within urban neighborhoods, then why didn't he just 'fess up? All it does is make him sound pretentious and those who live in Rozzie or Eastie sound like a bunch of half-wits who don't know any better. It might have been more accurate to link the focus of his research with the fact that these neighborhoods are chronically underserved by public transportation.
And what about those who live in and around the West End who no longer have a Stop & Shop to patronize? Where does he think all those folks who live at the Amy Lowell House go to do their shopping? Whole Foods and Sage's might be a bit above their reach, economically speaking. I realize we're taking about child nutrition, but the elderly are also affected.
A Twinkie for Your Thoughts...
It’s always nice to have people comment on our content and specifically debating its merits. Unlike some, we’re certainly not perfect and with a mostly young, inexperienced staff of writers, we take chances that sometimes miss the mark and need to be called out on it. We’ve never had a writer who didn’t blow it occasionally.
However, it really does seem like many of the comments here are from people who need to reread the article and put down the vinegar. Not only is it factually and thoroughly researched, with almost a dozen organizations and statistical findings cited in addition to a healthy dose of real-life research, not just a google search, but the point is fairly clear and not at all disjointed. Dietary habits, access to a greater variety of food options and the impact that low-cost high-caloric options have on those most reliant on food stamps are real concerns in certain parts of our city, state and country. With specific reference to the food stamp dilemma, it’s also painfully true that those trying to stretch their dollars in an ever increasingly expensive world are the most vulnerable and have the least options.
I recommend a deep breathe and a quick shrug to dust off your bitterness before you comment on an article. Lauren did a great job with an otherwise slow news topic that many people would prefer to think either doesn’t exist or is exaggerated. Adam’s last comment seems to get that; I can’t say the same for the rest of you…
Well ....
The article certainly does a good job of raising a valid, interesting issue (so good work, keep it up) - one a certain daily newspaper might cover if it actually cared about life in the city whose name it uses, but ...
C'mon, playing the "food desert" quote up so high was kind of silly when the evidence, as supplied by posters here, is that one of the two named neighborhoods actually has a plentiful supply of good food and that while the other one may not have a supermarket, it's not like it exists in a vacuum with no supermarkets for miles around. It's the kind of thing that makes people who live in or know those neighborhoods go "Huh, WTF?" and stop reading. Doesn't mean there aren't issues of poverty and poor nutrition in those neighborhoods, but it does mean the reader has to make more of an effort to get past the "desert" to the actual point of the story.
Twofer
Looks like a twofer to me.
He does crap science and he's a whiner.
Welcome to Boston, Jeffy. Take the time to learn about it before you go making up stuff again.
Two different people
Jeff is the publisher/editor of the Dig. The "food desert" guy is a doctor at BMC with whom they led the story.
Onefer
Okay, so he's just a whiner.
Still, either he didn't read this tripe before he published it, or he doesn't know Boston well enough to be able to smell the BS.
Google Maps is your Friend
Well, Gareth already knows that.
In any case, the situation is vastly improved since 1990. At that time, there were a few beseiged "Poverty Supreme" stores here and there with very limited hours for full-shift workers, a few lingering mom-and-pop places, and no way to get to much of any of it. People in Roxbury had to get out to Dedham before they got to a sizable grocery store ... something not really affordable in a cab if you didn't have a car. Bus lines were all oriented toward commuting, if they were there at all, rather than shopping.
I think the list of stores in lower income areas is pretty comprehensive now by comparison - particularly since many of these are served by multiple bus lines. Stores are nice, but people have to be able to get to them.
I would caution against using Census 2K data to figure out the income levels around these supermarkets and stores. It is getting pretty long in the tooth and it is entirely possible that the presence of stores in certain areas has made the surrounding real estate more expensive.
It slays me
I'm sure Dr. John Cook is a fine pediatrician. But he should stick to his competency, which apparently doesn't involve geography. What he calls research wouldn't pass muster at my job or at any of the universities I attended.
"There are no major supermarkets in Mattapan?" Can the man even use Google? Has he ever even been to Mattapan? Did he think to read the City's research? I don't go there often, but even I can't help but notice that big fat Farmers Warehouse Market on Cummins and the Shaws on River seem to be doing good business. Also, the multiple little corner stores / bogedas, where rice, beans, and platanos can be had at a good price, should not be discounted as sources of cheap, nutritious food. Not all food shopping is done at a supermarket greater than 10,000 square feet.
Hire a student
Give some college kid a summer job messing around with MapInfo or even ArcGIS. They could spend their time walking or biking or even driving the streets with a GPS unit, finding out where the food markets are, whether they take WIC and food stamps, what bus lines serve them, etc.
Not only would the resulting map sets explore the issue, they could also be used to point the Dr.'s patients toward nearby sources of healthy food at reasonable prices or that take their type of aid.