Loss of a Rural Grocery Store Is Bad News for Community Health

Loss of a Rural Grocery Store Is Bad News for Community Health
Feb 22 // Beth Gilden // Portland, Oregon
CATEGORY: Rural Life

This Saturday on Weekend Edition, NPR featured a story about Hanna, WY population 800 where economic conditions are forcing the town's only grocery store to close. NPR correspondent Molly Messick reports,

With the Hanna Food Mart gone, there will be nowhere in town to buy bread or milk. There's not even a regular gas station in Hanna just a couple of credit-card-only gas pumps. A simple mini-mart is 20 miles away. The nearest grocery store will be an 80-mile drive round-trip. But a lot of people in Hanna don't get around that easily.

The story does an excellent job of exploring how the inability to do business causes a chain reaction of unfortunate events for rural communities: When a key stone business is forced to close its doors, it often takes another with it. Losing a local business, like a grocery store also means losing a community gathering place. And, losing a grocery store has an impact on community health. The Center for Rural Affairs provides an indepth look at grocery stores in rural communities,

The lack of a grocery store means residents have less access to healthy fresh fruits and vegetables, and the elderly and others without reliable transportation will tend to buy their food at convenience stores with more limited selections or go for longer periods of time between visits to the store.

The focus on the small town grocery comes shortly after the release of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation study which ranks America's counties according to their health, their findings suggest that grocery stores are a good indicator of community health:

Counties ranked the unhealthiest are less likely to have at least one grocery store where people can buy healthy foods such as fresh produce. About 33 percent of zip codes in the unhealthiest counties had a grocery store, while 47 percent of zip codes in the healthiest counties had a grocery store.

And bad news for rural communities,

Suburban and urban counties tend to be healthier than rural counties. About 48 percent of the healthiest counties were urban or suburban, while 84 percent of the unhealthiest counties were rural.

What is the solution here? Grocery stores are essential to healthy and vital communities, yet we can't expect grocers to operate when they can't turn a profit.

See all posts by Beth Gilden.

« BACK TO THE RIPPLE BLOG « PREVIOUS // NEXT »

COMMENTS

Robert says
02.22.10 // 02:06 PM

The article on the closure of the grocery in Hanna Wyoming and the importance of small businesses resonates, especially in light of the closure of the only laundromat in Oakridge, Oregon. The Eugene Register Guard reported that "If they were lucky, people without their own washing machines and clothes dryers could rely on friends and family for laundry services. People who were less fortunate had to drive 40 miles to Springfield or Eugene to find a laundromat. Many told of washing their closes less frequently, or of buying clean clothes from thrift shops and discarding them after they became soiled. The Guard also notes that "Americans’ way of life depends on a web of institutions and services that often are taken for granted. Snap one thread, however, and the entire web quivers. Break several, and the web’s structural integrity is lost. Many residents of surrounding communities have donated used washers and dryers to fill the need in Oakridge. "One man, Ruben Garcia of Springfield, offered to buy a new washer-dryer set every month until the need is filled." Luckily, the generosity people in rural communities can sometimes help provide local solutions to local problems and repair a slightly tattered web.

Paul K. says
02.26.10 // 10:10 AM

This case also remind me of another store closing. The closing of the only grocery store in Yachats due to financial hardship. The community of 800 residents were left with the difficult choice of having to travel 8 miles up to Waldport. Many of the residents in the community did not possess the resources necessary to travel such a distance. Community members responded to this hardship by banding together. The community in Yachats formed the Yachats Grocery Hotline. Volunteers or community members work with residents to help transport residents north to the closest grocery store in Waldport. These volunteers also take down residents grocery lists and drive up the market and buy their products and then return the purchased goods to the them in Yachats. What I find amazing about Oregonians is when there is a need or a hardship is how most communities step up to help those in need. This example and the Oakridge example above are good examples of communities coming together and dealing with adversities. Coming from a state which most individuals only consider themselves and what they need, I find this attitude and resourcefulness refreshing.

Robert says
02.26.10 // 04:29 PM

The story that Paul recounts highlights the elegance of a simple solution implemented by people who see a need and act. I think these instances are often overlooked and it would be interesting to hear others stories of problems that were tackled by people who saw a need and came up with a creative solution. I also wonder what the retail future will hold for Yachats. It seems as if there are enough people in the area to support a small grocery, but that wasn't the case for the grocery that used to exist in there.

Join the conversation! First time contributing? View Comment Guidelines.