[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.91″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_video _builder_version=”3.15″ src=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qIno13iTE3g&feature=youtu.be” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.92″ custom_padding=”2px|0px|37.9062px|0px” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|18.9531px|0px” custom_margin=”10px|||” _builder_version=”3.0.92″][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”News Story” _builder_version=”3.15″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|”]<\/p>\n
For many residents in the 29203 neighborhood along Columbia\u2019s North Main Street, something as routine as a trip to the grocery store can be an ordeal.<\/p>\n
Sydell Humphries lives off North Main Street.\u00a0\u00a0 With no car and a prosthetic leg, trips to the grocery store come few and far between.\u00a0 It takes her nearly an hour to walk to the nearest grocery store, a Piggly Wiggly \u2013 something she\u2019s only tried to do once.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy the time I got back home, I was in so much pain, I chose not to do it again,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s even tried public transportation, which came with its own complications in the Columbia heat.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy grandkids love ice cream.\u00a0 So going to the grocery store without a car and getting ice cream, by the time I come back it\u2019s soup,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Many of her neighbors have found themselves in the same predicament \u2013 carless and foodless.\u00a0 North Main Street is one of Columbia\u2019s most prominent food deserts, or a low-income area in which many people don\u2019t have cars and the nearest grocery store is too far.\u00a0 There used to be a grocery store, Harvey\u2019s Supermarket, within walking distance from Humphries\u2019 apartment.\u00a0 But ever since that shut down in the last year, many locals have struggled getting access to fresh food.<\/p>\n
The City of Columbia\u2019s Food Policy Committee is working to improve food access by hosting public forums to hear directly from the people about how things can improve.<\/p>\n
At its latest monthly meeting, committee members discussed possibly bringing a grocery store to the neighborhood to fill the void that Harvey\u2019s Supermarket left.\u00a0 But if no grocery chains are willing to come to the area, the committee is considering bringing a mobile food market to the area.\u00a0 A mobile food market is a grocery store on wheels that could bring fresh food directly to the people. \u00a0It\u2019s a model that has worked well in food deserts in the Lowcountry.<\/p>\n
Food Policy Committee member Carrie Draper believes that the locals should have the power to decide what happens in their neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are the biggest experts of their lives and their experiences and they should have control and self-determination over their lives,\u201d Draper said.<\/p>\n
Food is one of life\u2019s most basic needs \u2013 a need that simply isn\u2019t being met for people like Sydell Humphries in the North Main Street area, and in other food deserts across the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just isn\u2019t fair,\u201d Humphries said.<\/p>\n
Humphries got her friend to drive her to Harvest Hope, a local food pantry, for her latest grocery haul.\u00a0 Where will she have to go to get her groceries next time?<\/p>\n
Even she isn\u2019t sure.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 1″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.15″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/SydellHumphries.jpg”]<\/p>\n
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Sydell Humphries lives off of North Main Street and has difficulty walking to the nearest grocery store with her prosthetic leg.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 2″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.15″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Harveys.jpg”]<\/p>\n
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Harvey’s Supermarket shut down its North Main Street location earlier this year.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 3″ _builder_version=”3.15″ src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/map.jpg” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 3″ _builder_version=”3.15″]<\/p>\n
The green areas are food deserts located in the Columbia area. Credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture.<\/p>\n
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