Councilor pushes for food desert fixes
May 25—Ward III Councilor Derrick Reed urged administrators to initiate a longterm plan to address a problem identified more than three years ago in a study commissioned for the purpose of identifying barriers to healthy food.
During councilors’ recent budget retreat Reed said a sizable segment of the population that lack private transportation on the city’s south side “doesn’t have access to groceries.” Residents who do own a vehicle in that part of Muskogee, he said, “don’t even have access to gas.”
“I have asked … to start a program — not a program that we start in this budget year … but take a three-year, five-year look … and find out what people need in those areas,” Reed said, citing a study that identified the city’s food deserts. “That’s one of the things that my people are really screaming in my ward for help.”
Doug Walton of the Muskogee County Health Department presented the results of the nearly yearlong study to city councilors in December 2017. The examination included an informal survey of about 700 people representing a socioeconomic cross-section of Muskogee residents.
A key finding that seemed “to resonate throughout the survey results” was the fact that 35% of the respondents experienced “trouble getting and eating enough healthy food” either occasionally or always. Almost 30% had cut meal sizes or skipped meals at least on occasion and sometimes always.
An executive summary of the task force’s findings indicate “transportation is not a barrier to grocery store access for many people in Muskogee. However, more than half of those who rely on public transportation “sometimes or always” experienced difficulty “getting and eating enough healthy food.”
The task force survey shows the affordability of healthy food creates a barrier for area residents even when distance and transportation pose no significant barrier. Just more than 25% of those polled expressed difficulty finding healthy foods where they shop, and more than one-third said having access to a “better variety or quality” foods “where they shop would help them eat more healthy foods.”
The landscape of consumer choice for grocery shopping has shifted since the report was presented to city councilors. And progress toward the implementation of recommendations was delayed by a global pandemic that put many things on hold for much of 2020.
City Manager Mike Miller said he expects the budget for fiscal year 2021, which begins July 1, will include some economic development funds that can be used to explore ways to address Muskogee’s food deserts. Miller said he will be “looking for ways that we can do that continually to address that issue.”
