Monday, November 10, 2014

Editorial: Avoid ‘food desert’ after Mangonia Park’s... | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

I hope that the closing of the Sabor on Lake Worth Road does not foretell the establishment of a "food desert" in Lake Worth, west of I-95. Let's hope another grocery store can fill the void. Click title for link to a Post editorial about the situation in the northern part of West Palm Beach once a Winn-Dixie closes in the area. From the editorial:
This is a familiar story, one that plays out in poor communities across the country. Grocery stores flock to suburban neighborhoods and upscale city centers, but they leave tremendous gaps in low-income neighborhoods.
Neighboring Riviera Beach went through the same pain not long ago. When a Publix there closed in 1990, the entire city was left without any full-service grocery stores for more than a decade. Finally, a Winn-Dixie was approved in 2003, and Publix returned to the city in 2011.
Winn-Dixie’s closing in Mangonia Park (just outside of West Palm Beach’s city limits) threatens to create a similar dearth of convenient access to good, affordable food along the 45th Street corridor.