Bronzeville grocery store helping to revitalize neighborhood

A Milwaukee grocery store is committed to serving up healthy food to the historically Black neighborhood as the Bronzeville Week celebration continues.”It has been a food desert. Like I said, I worked down the street for many years,” grocery shopper Tasha Elliott said.Elliott said she buys all her fresh produce at Pete’s Fruit Market, the primary grocery store for Bronzeville on Milwaukee’s north side along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive at North Avenue. This is Bronzeville Week, which is celebrating the community as the primary economic and social hub for African Americans in the early- to mid-1900s. Milwaukee needs businesses to help revitalize the neighborhood.Part of the focus of Bronzeville Week is improving community health and healthy eating through fresh produce is a big part of that story.”Is it good to see a store like this trying to revitalize the Bronzeville area?” Sater asked.”Yes, and they are doing a good job,” Elliott said.”Is it important to have fresh produce that’s really high quality?” Sater asked another shopper. “Yes, yes, because some places do not have it. And it’s not fresh. And they put it up for sale anyway,” grocery shopper Dorothy Murrell said.”We need people to understand healthy living is the key to longevity,” said Sam Cunningham, of Pete’s Fruit Market.Cunningham started working for Pete’s fruit Market in Illinois when he was a teenager, and it helped him get through college. He said the owners are committed to help the community.”Certainly, it will not be the Bronzeville of the past, but it can rebuilt for the Bronzeville of today and for the future,” Cunningham said.