This is what we call a food desert — and it is not just an inconvenience. Research consistently shows that limited access to nutritious food drives higher rates of diet-related illness, including diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. It places an enormous burden on our healthcare system. And it falls hardest on the residents who already face the most barriers: working parents, seniors on fixed incomes, people without reliable transportation.
I refuse to accept this as an inevitability for District 6. Food access is a justice issue, and as your County Council member, I will treat it as one. Here is my plan.
Attracting Full-Service Grocers to Underserved Areas
The most immediate need is simple: we need real grocery stores in parts of District 6 that currently lack them. This is harder than it sounds — retailers make siting decisions based on projected profit margins, and communities with lower incomes or higher perceived risk are often passed over in favor of wealthier areas.
But government has tools to change those incentives. As County Council member, I will work to create a targeted incentive package for full-service grocery retailers willing to locate in food-desert areas of District 6. This could include property tax incentives, streamlined permitting, infrastructure support, and public-private partnership structures that reduce the financial risk of entering underserved markets.
We have seen this model work in other jurisdictions. When government steps in to change the economics of a situation, private investment follows. There is no reason District 6 cannot benefit from this same approach.
I will also push for stronger community benefit standards on any incentivized grocery development — ensuring that the stores that come in actually carry affordable, quality food, employ District 6 residents, and commit to serving the community for the long term. A grocery store that stocks only premium products at luxury prices is not a real solution.
Building Community Hubs: Farmers Markets and Local Food Partnerships
Attracting large grocery chains is important, but it cannot be the only solution. We also need to invest in community-based food systems that are resilient, locally rooted, and capable of serving our residents even when corporate retailers are absent.
Farmers markets are a powerful tool — when they are designed to serve everyone. Too often, farmers markets are perceived as spaces for higher-income shoppers, with price points that put fresh produce out of reach for working families. I will work to ensure that District 6 farmers markets and food hubs are designed differently: with SNAP and EBT acceptance, with mechanisms to make fresh food genuinely affordable, and with programming that connects community members to the food being sold.
I will also work to build partnerships between the county, local farmers, schools, churches, and community organizations to create distributed food access points throughout District 6. A church that opens its parking lot once a week for a fresh produce pop-up, a school that runs a community garden and shares the harvest — these are not small things. They are the building blocks of a more food-secure community.
And we should look to support local food entrepreneurs — people in our own community who are growing food, preparing food, and building food businesses. Economic investment in District 6's food ecosystem keeps money circulating locally and creates jobs right here at home.
The End-Desert Commitment: No One Travels Miles for Fresh Food
My commitment is straightforward: no resident of District 6 should have to travel miles to access fresh, nutritious produce. That is the standard I will hold myself to on the County Council.
Meeting that standard means tracking food access gaps systematically — knowing exactly where the deserts are, how many residents are affected, and what barriers exist to accessing food at all. It means setting measurable goals and reporting publicly on our progress. And it means being willing to use every tool available at the county level — zoning, economic development incentives, community investment — to close those gaps.
Food is not a luxury. It is a human need. And in District 6, we are going to build the infrastructure to meet it.