Diminish ‘food apartheid’ in Sweet Auburn? That’s this market’s goal
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Goodr Food Market on Edgewood cut the ribbon to a free and reduced-price grocery store to help with food access in the historic Sweet Auburn neighborhood Thursday, launching the organization’s first-ever brick-and-mortar store in Atlanta.
Goodr CEO Jasmine Crowe-Houston emotionally addressed the crowd at the opening ceremony, thanking the community for its overwhelming support.
“Today is more than just a grand thing. It’s really a celebration of belief in ourselves and in community and in purpose and in doing the right thing,” Crowe-Houston said.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
. “I really started it because people were hungry and because our communities deserve better,” she said. “And what’s even more powerful for me today in this journey is that it really started within walking distance to here.”
Crowe-Houston was inspired to start her food service journey in 2013 after seeing people in need near a now-shuttered shelter in downtown Atlanta. She prepared meals from her home and gave them out. In 2016, her efforts went viral online.
Goodr officially opened in 2017 and has since expanded into 15 states, serving communities with pop-up restaurants and grocery stores. The organization partners with companies, which receive tax incentives, to divert corporate catered meals from becoming food waste and hitting landfills. (Some of these partners include Wellstar Health System and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.)
Over 30 million meals have been provided.
With the brick-and-mortar location, city economic agency Invest Atlanta granted Goodr with $330,000 to obtain and restore a place in Sweet Auburn.
“This will be the first model where you pay for some. Some people will have to pay for their food, and those that are in the program can get some of that for free,” Invest Atlanta CEO Eloisa Klementich, CEcD, Ph.D., said in an interview, explaining that it will be a self-sustaining financial cycle.
Klementich added that the goal is to keep Goodr self-sustainable for the long run so that funders or large donations won’t make or break the store’s success.
“Now to be standing here, just steps away from where those (first) meals were served, it’s just a moment I really can’t even put into words,” Crowe-Houston said. “It’s sacred, and it’s really bigger than me. I look at this building as being more than just a store. I feel it is a river in the desert.”
Mayor Andre Dickens praised Crowe-Houston for her innovation and working to eradicate food scarcity in a community where the closest fresh-food market had previously been a 30-minute walk.
“We’re proud to be alongside (Goodr) in our work to address food access across the city of Atlanta,” Dickens said.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
“This city has too many food deserts. There’s too many places where people are going without fresh food options,” the mayor continued, adding that city officials unsuccessfully tried to create financial incentives to appeal to major grocery chains to expand throughout the city where access had been limited.
Instead, the city looked to its partners, like Goodr, to bridge the food gap.
“Our partnership with Goodr is making sure that people in these communities can eat,” he said. “It’s the blueprint of what can happen when local government, businesses, nonprofits and communities all come together.”
The mayor expressed his gratitude that members of the community will be able to shop without judgement and children will be able to focus on schoolwork rather than their next meal.
“This market fills a critical gap, putting dignity and access where it’s most needed,” Dickens said.
Councilwoman Liliana Bakhtiari, who represents District 5 — including Sweet Auburn, said the city is on a mission to eradicate systemically racist “food apartheid.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
“We have some of the highest theft rates in the country, not because people are criminals, but because they’re hungry,” Bakhtiari said.
Bakhtiari, whose Iranian family emigrated to Atlanta where her father opened a pharmacy in Sweet Auburn, said more than 1,000 seniors in the area battle with being isolated from healthy food sources.
“This is a holistic wraparound grocery store that will be accessible to everyone, and it never would have happened without this community,” she said.
The Goodr Food Market, which partnered with Invest Atlanta to establish its location at 381 Edgewood Ave. NE, offers affordable fresh food and discounted meals for families, kids, students and seniors. Customers also have access to recipe cards to learn how to cook at home, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is accepted on specified items.
Families are prescreened to determine their eligibility for free monthly groceries, which they will have access to for a year.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Crowe-Houston iterated to the crowd not to give up on their dreams and aspirations, especially when they involve community betterment.
“Do not grow weary in doing your well-good because, in due time, you will reap what you need to keep believing and keep building — even when it’s hard, even when the vision is yours alone,” said Crowe-Houston. “Today, we get to experience that. So, I want you guys to rejoice with me in this moment.”
About the Author
Brooke Leigh Howard is a reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Black culture team, UATL.
