Among the perennial concerns of Louisville urban dwellers is a lack of grocery stores in and around Downtown. But a group of citizens is hoping to change that with the Louisville Food Cooperative, and you’re invited to weigh in at an upcoming meeting taking place Tuesday, August 2 at 1619 Flux, 1619 West Market Street. The meeting is scheduled from 6:00 to 8:00p.m.
“A small steering committee has been meeting for a year conducting research and creating a structure to invite more community input for a community-owned grocery store to be located in one of Louisville’s downtown neighborhoods,” a Coop representative wrote to Broken Sidewalk in an email.
The goal of the meeting is to educate the larger community about cooperative economics and provide updates on progress to open a food coop in Louisville.
“The Louisville Food Cooperative will be a unique grocery store open to the public year around, with a priority placed on supplying local and regional organic products at comparable prices,” the group wrote. “While no specific location has yet been solidified, the steering committee has identified several locations in the city’s downtown core that will serve shoppers who currently have limited access to quality food products.”
Very interesting. I’ve always wondered if parts of Louisville really do suffer from the food desert phenomenon. Just looking at the map it seems like the areas in the West End you would think would suffer from them actually seem nearly if not as well served by the Portland Kroger, the Broadway Kroger, Fresh Market in Park Duvall (though with these three I’m not sure of the quality), and partially by the 2nd St. Kroger. If anything it feels like the Phoenix Hill and Irish areas are the ones where there isn’t a grocery nearby (especially with Food Link closed, though that wasn’t much of a grocery). Perhaps it’s more of a transportation problem, but I look forward to learning more!