Community groups in Buffalo building more supermarkets, gardens on the city’s east side

Community groups in Buffalo’s historic Fruit Belt neighborhood on the East Side are on a mission to build more supermarkets as residents struggle to access affordable, healthy food options.

NBC News reports that East Side residents have pushed for more grocery stores and fresh produce for decades. The only supermarket in the area is Tops, where 10 people were murdered and three others injured by a white gunman in May. TheGrio reported previously that the grocery store, located on Jefferson Avenue, is considered a staple of the neighborhood. 

The Fruit Belt neighborhood once boasted grocery stores and various thriving businesses as well as lush orchards, gardens and roadways named after fruit such as Grape, Peach and Lemon Streets. But the city is hardly a memory of what it once was, as the East Side has the status of being a “food desert.” This is highlighted by the city’s slew of abandoned homes and long-forgotten empty plots of land that are unkept and overgrown. 

The social and economic problems that have long plagued the city are deeply rooted in racial segregation, housing discrimination, and decades-old redlining policies. The Buffalo-based think tank Public Good reported in 2018 that Black residents are six times more likely to live in food deserts compared to the city’s white residents.

Several Black leaders and local organizations have teamed up to combat this. The African Heritage Food Co-op along with the non-profit Buffalo’s Black Billion and NeuWater & Associates are building supermarkets and growing gardens in an effort to provide area residents with fresh produce.

“It’s about gainful employment,” Alex Wright, founder of the African Heritage Food Co-op in Buffalo, said in October about the grocery store he plans to open in the future, as reported by NBC News. 

“We want our employees to be able to go on vacation. We want them to be able to put their kids in tutoring and to go and get the car they can afford and to put the down payment on the house they would like. We want them to have careers,” Wright said.

Local pastor Michael Chapman leads the Buffalo Black Billion organization. Over the last two decades, the organization has reportedly built over 70 townhomes, a senior living center, a hospice facility and other establishments within 43 blocks of the Fruit Belt.

“Everything we do is to build a footprint for the kingdom of God,” said Chapman of St. John and Gethsemane Missionary Baptist churches. “So, we don’t do this for personal gain. We do it for the church and the ministry and the well-being of the community.”

Wright and Chapman are each developing plans to build a market in their community. Rita Hubbard-Robinson, 62, CEO of NeuWater & Associates, is leading a multimillion dollar initiative called Project Rainfall, which will transform the 50,000-square-foot building at 537 East Delavan Avenue into a farmer’s market and hydroponic garden, according to the NBC News report.

“We have a bunch of people here working together,” Wright said.

“So, the beautiful thing is, this is just like a tornado of strong individuals coming together to make beautiful things happen in Buffalo,” she added.

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