Anga Saunders can't help but tell people about what she calls “food apartheid” in the Oak Cliff area.
Every week for years, she drove more than 12 miles to Albertsons in Lemon and McKinney to buy fresh fruits and vegetables not available in her area.
“Dallas is literally a story of two cities separated by a freeway and a river,” Sanders told an audience at the University of Dallas' West Dallas Center on Thursday. “You can't be the world-class city that Dallas likes to be when more than half of the city is a food desert.”
United Way of Greater Dallas hosted a summit Thursday on Dallas' persistent challenges of food insecurity and innovative solutions. Texas is one of the most food insecure states, and for the first time, the Lone Star State leads the nation in the number of food insecure residents.
A group of approximately 30 business and community leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors discussed potential opportunities to address food insecurity, particularly in South Dallas. United Way of Metropolis Dallas is a social change organization focused on advancing racial equity in education, income, and health.
To solve this problem, Sanders founded FEED Oak Cliff and unsuccessfully tried to attract a grocery store to the neighborhood.
“The condescension was real,” Sanders said. “The things that were said to me, the insults that were thrown at me, just broke my heart. Hundreds of thousands of people don't have access to quality grocery stores. It's abhorrent. And it needs to stop. There is.”
In her corner of south Dallas, Sanders is working to bring a community-based grocery store, a take-out restaurant next door, and a rentable commercial kitchen for local cooks to expand their businesses. I'm here.
The concept for the summit was developed in November by Hunter Hunt, CEO and president of Hunt Consolidated Energy, in partnership with United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, the University of Dallas, and the Dallas Civic Council. It first began when we invited leaders from across Dallas to come together to analyze South Dallas' food security challenges and seek sustainable solutions.
Dallas Citizens Council CEO Kelvin Walker said food insecurity in Dallas is a solvable problem, but action is needed.
“In Dallas, we are sometimes known to glorify our problems to death,” Walker said. “[People] They need affordable grocery options and delivery systems that work based on income and neighborhood demographics. I think the business world needs to focus on this. ”
After convening a leadership group, Metropolitan United Way of Dallas received eight weeks from global firm Boston Consulting Group to conduct research, build a fact base, and provide initial recommendations for moving forward. We have secured a free contract.
Megan Dafoe, a managing director at Boston Consulting Group, presented the group with data supporting Sanders' experience. All 58 census tracts in Dallas facing food insecurity are located in south Dallas. All were majority Hispanic (54%) or black (46%).
The consultants recommended several sustainable solutions that would provide access to nutritious food on a “shopping basis” to families in census areas.
Food banks and supplement markets are just one tool, Defau said. But South Dallas could benefit from more innovative approaches, such as small retail stores, delivery services, and centralized facility delivery systems.
Crossroad Community Services, led by President and CEO Benaye Wadkins Chambers, is one of the distribution hubs as part of the North Texas Food Bank that helps serve south Dallas.
“Food is not a privilege. It's a right,” Wadkins-Chambers said. “And if we do this well, justice will be given to people who deserve a fair life.”
At Thursday's summit, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas McDermott Templeton President and CEO Jennifer Sampson outlined the organization's plans for innovative solutions. .
The organization founded the Summer and Dinner Council more than a decade ago to provide summer meals to families who rely on federal nutrition programs during the school year.
But now, she said, United Way is taking its food security efforts to the next level with a bigger goal in mind.
Focused on advancing racial equity, the nonprofit Aspire 2030's goal is to increase the number of students reading at grade level by 50% by third grade. Increase the number of North Texas youth earning a living wage by 20%. And he will increase the number of North Texas residents with access to affordable health insurance to 96%.
Mr. Sampson also detailed the company's solutions investment efforts. Metropolitan United Way of Dallas will help scale existing local solutions, import successful models from other markets, and seed new solutions to food accessibility and insecurity in south Dallas. A $6 million fund has been established for this purpose.
The fund was launched with a $1 million multi-year investment from Bank of America. Brian Angle, Bank of America's head of markets, said Bank of America has a responsibility as a good corporate citizen to invest in food security so communities can thrive.
“We heard yesterday that Texas actually has the highest level of food insecurity in the nation,” Angle said. “That is not acceptable. We don't want to be number one in that category. We want to be last in that category. We need bold action to get back to that.”
What you just read is The story of solutions journalism• We didn't just investigate the problem. I scrutinized the responses. By providing evidence of who is making progress, we eliminate excuses that the problem is out of control.
