Dallas couldn't buy its way out of the food desert, so now it's hoping to plant a few small seedsDallas' city officials change course on trying to stem the tide of food deserts, by looking at smaller targets instead of one (or a few) larger ones, like what happened with a recent addition at Simpson Stuart/Bonnie View. A Save A Lot store located there for a time, but now the store sign has the "Save" part without the "a Lot", and a further check online shows the store now as a place called Save You More. It's not clear what happens to the city's $3 million in this case--either the city feels like the $$$ was invested well because the store is still open and not in too bad a shape, or, they lost their investment because the store chain that had been there is no longer there.
Now, the City is accepting proposals, but the article (nor the City?) isn't clear as to exactly who would be an ideal candidate. The "Healthy Food Dallas Initiative" has $250,000 to dole out to those who:
"directly benefit residents living in low and moderate income areas with little access to healthy food Dallas by providing healthy food access, creating jobs, and revitalizing eligible neighborhoods."
Our Mr. Wilonsky ends the article by turning to the head of Bonton Farms, Daron Babcock, who has seen moderate-to-well-received attention and business for his local farm/storefront/cafe concept (and has been the subject of DMN coverage in past articles) on the south end of Bexar Street in the Bonton area of South Dallas. Babcock is seen as an example of someone who would be a good recipient of funds from the City's initiative. He and his wife have expanded their reach into cooking classes and outreach to other groups in other parts of the community, as well as outside the city--far outside--to Brazil.
https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm ... mall-seeds