The closest large grocery stores to Pine Hill are a Piggly Wiggly, 25 minutes away in Camden, and a Walmart, 15 minutes away in the next county. A corporate news release states the company has fresh produce in more than 1,300 of its stores, which would account for about 7% of its stores, though it has published plans to expand. I know a lot of them come here and they are calling me later when we have a drive-by giveaway, and they say, ‘Thank you so much, you know, because I don’t know what we would do if the food bank wasn’t there.’”ĭollar General said it offers convenient, affordable access to components to make nutritious meals such as frozen and canned vegetables and fruits. “So, it’s just the food bank itself going on right here … just the food bank. There were options for canned and frozen vegetables, fruit, and meat – but as Ruffin said, fresh food was virtually non-existent. We’ve been blessed with a three-door cooler now so I can add dairy stuff.”Īn InvestigateTV videographer went into the three stores that accept food stamps in Pine Hill. “Here at the food bank, we are able to give them potatoes and tomatoes. ![]() They might have canned vegetables, but there’s no fresh stuff there,” Ruffin said. “Dollar General is just canned goods and, you know, snack stuff. As of this date, it still has not happened. It said the rule established by the still-in-effect law would not be funded until some definitions are hammered out. So in 2017, Congress essentially pulled back its own mandate in an omnibus appropriations bill. The average convenience store is approximately 3,000 square feet-almost 15 times smaller than the average supermarket.” Convenience stores have limited space and storage. Part of the NACS argument stated on its website: “On average, convenience stores get food deliveries 1-2 times a week, which can make stocking certain foods, particularly perishable foods, difficult. counted toward the total as the original rule suggested. In particular, the meat and dairy categories would run out of options very quickly if only one type of beef, chicken, etc. Stores say it’s too hard to stock that much variety in a small, rural store where deliveries are few and far between. Orange juice and fresh oranges are one variety of fruit/vegetable. The hang-up is in the word “variety.” Currently, only one type of product can be a “variety” – so roast beef and a steak only count for one variety of meat/seafood: beef. “I saw one convenience store that had little gambling machines in there. They had this little kind of dumpy laundromat and then a little table with, it was just a little like a card table, with some stuff that they sold and accepted SNAP,” she said. “I saw a laundromat one time that was in the SNAP program. Gallagher, the Chicago-based researcher, has spent years working on food research and is credited with popularizing the term “food desert.” In her work, she has done a lot of reconnaissance herself. Rural convenience store owners say it can be hard to stock and keep perishable foods with limited truck deliveries. ![]() ![]() One store had a few bell peppers and a moldy lemon another had expired eggs. Very few had any fresh produce or raw meat intended to cook at home. Most had canned fruits, vegetables and meats to fulfill SNAP requirements. The dozen stores InvestigateTV visited contained mostly sugary and salty snack foods as well as large beverage selections. In rural Louisiana, small stores that accept SNAP benefits sell items including life-like baby dolls, karaoke machines.
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