Moldy strawberries and meat that’s past due: those were some of the offerings DC Councillor found at one of the few grocery stores in his ward.
Today, hundreds of people protested the so-called grocery gap in wards 7 and 8.
Ward 7 Councilmember Vince Gray calls it a tale of two cities- where DC’s grocery stores are clustered in the most affluent areas of the city.
“You come to where there are a 150 thousand people, and there are only three full-service grocery stores. The time is up for that to be acceptable.”
To make their point, marchers started from the nearest grocery store to downtown Anacostia: 2 miles away.
Rallyers said this distance is especially hard on those who don’t have their cars, as well as people with families.
Rallyer and school nurse Constance Hazzard said she worries most about the children in the community.
"I’m with the high school kids, but I have worked at the elementary level as well. I especially look at the kids with that, so that they will be able to come into school so they will be able to focus and do whatever they need to do to come out and be successful," he said.
Ward 8 DC Councilmember, Trayon White Sr, said the district is working on ways to give grocery chains more incentives to set up shop in the Southeast.
"We have two new grocery stores coming to Ward 8. We’re already working on two deals. We have some coops starting in the community, some community farms, so we already started the work, we're not just talking, we already started walking the walk right here in Ward 8 and Ward 7."
