In recent weeks Real Hartford polled* residents (not potential residents and not those who live elsewhere but work in the city) about their grocery shopping habits. While at it, we collected some demographic information. Here is what we found:
The overwhelming majority of residents responding to this question said that they never have difficulty obtaining healthy food. I was careful with the wording because some might have trouble buying fresh produce, but they are still able to get it with help of food stamps or Foodshare. The Grow Hartford CSA, for example, has a number of its shares reserved at a reduced rate for low-income families.
Of those who had difficulty obtaining healthy food, most said this was an issue only some of the time.
The reasons for that varied.
For those who responded with “other,” their reasons included taking personal responsibility (“bad planning”), number of people in household (“Since it’s mostly just me, I can’t buy produce at the grocery store because it doesn’t last long”), and seasonal deficiencies (“lack of organic downtown in winter”).
Cost was a significant factor, as expected.
Most people said they had employment, with a small percentage being students, retired, or unemployed. It is not uncommon for people to have a job (or several) and still have trouble covering basic necessities. National reports show 1 in 7 Americans now use food banks. Having a grocery store on every corner does nothing for those who make too much to qualify for government assistance, but not enough to select the healthier food options.
Even with cost, availability, and convenience being roadblocks for some people some of the time, the majority of people responding said they could feed themselves just fine.
So who was answering? Are they a representative sample of Hartford residents?
By this finding alone, the answer is no.
The homeownership rate in Hartford is only around 25 percent, yet a full two-thirds of those surveyed said they owned, not rented. Perhaps people bother to learn where grocery stores are located when they make a long term investment by purchasing a home?
Another theory about why people have difficulty in getting healthy food is that they are new to town, plain and simple. Like homeowners, residents who have managed to stay here for a few years or longer seem to have no complaints about general availability of food.
The smallest percentage of those responding have lived here for less than one year. Those responding “other” all staked claims to living in Hartford for much longer than five years, but did not qualify as lifelong residents. Some have lived here for decades after college. Others grew up here, moved away, and then returned. Perhaps there was less food elsewhere?
Over the years, some have claimed that the only reason they have not moved to Downtown is because of the lack of grocery store. But looking at these responses, it’s even more clear that such statements are not entirely honest. To find out how to make Downtown more livable, a fine first step would be for people who have no interest whatsoever in living there to not pretend as if they could be swayed.
What we did learn was that nobody who responded obtains his or her food from only one source. Of those who responded, almost 29 percent live in the West End, roughly 26% live in Downtown, and over 13% live in Frog Hollow. The remainder live in other neighborhoods; the very small number of people from Parkville (where Stop & Shop is located) responding would not have skewed the results.
So, where do we get our food?
There was a catch. Residents responding to this survey were asked not to include an establishment if they have only purchased takeout/to-go meals there.
Finally, residents were asked about the qualities of their ideal grocery store (whether or not such a store exists is another question). More than anything else, people want their food to be grown locally. They would also like it to be fresh. After that, they considered cost important, and then showed a preference for organic produce.
One person added that s/he would like there to be high fiber cereal. That may or may not have been a joke.
Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at which local stores and vendors fulfill these ideals and which fall short. Other criteria may be included as well, like if they have a web presence (update and useful), if they present barriers to those shopping there, what (if anything) they are famous for, efficiency, involvement in community, atmosphere, and if its location lends itself to completing several errands during one trip. With a shopping list in hand, I will compare a few of the grocery stores Hartford has to offer.
*Note: All polls are inaccurate representations of reality. They never represent a full range of diversity. They naturally exclude those who do not know about the poll. The most useful piece of information from this poll was learning that nobody relies entirely on one grocery store, not even ones that receive a lot of hype.*
Robin
“To find out how to make Downtown more livable, a fine first step would be for people who have no interest whatsoever in living there to not pretend as if they could be swayed.” YES!!!! I am so sick of smug suburbanites acting as if the lack of a Whole Foods on every corner is what keeps them from moving to the city. Even if you were in Manhattan you would have to walk, bus or subway a fair distance to get groceries. And then you would have to carry them… even in the rain or snow…
Kerri Provost
I live closer to grocery stores now than I ever did when living in smaller cities or suburbia.
Bunnybee
This may not be relevant to your post, but the idea of “local” food intrigues me. What do people consider local? Personally, I think CT, maybe MA. I’d even consider all of New England. I was shocked at WF the other day when I asked where the “local” crabcakes were from. Answer? Maryland. So is anything from the East coast considered local? Anywhere in US? I guess my point, if there is one, is when asked on the poll if local food was a priority, people might have different definitions of local.
Kerri Provost
My own answer would be “as local as possible, but I know some people use 250 miles or 100 miles as their range. It also depends on the products, I think. Don’t give me bread from 50 miles away when we have awesome bakeries within 5 miles.
Interestingly, nobody defined “local” further.
Something I’ve noticed that happens a lot at WF is that they create a false dichotomy where there will be local produce and organic produce, but very little overlap. I see another version of this at Trader Joe’s and some Stop & Shops where they will prepackage all the organic produce. Maybe the assumption is wrong, but I do think most people seeking organic food probably don’t want the extra plastic.
Dorie
I always wondered the same thing about “local” food. Seems to be just another buzz word that grocery stores use to make people feel good about buying their products. Kerri, your bread example is dead on.
And the prepackaging of organic produce is something I never understood either. Is it so people wont try to switch the stickers and pass it off as cheaper non-organic produce? And, while I’m at it… it always makes me laugh when I take the huge “ORGANIC” sticker off my fruit only to see it leaves a nasty sticky residue… yum.
Amy Bergquist
How many people ended up taking the survey?
Kerri Provost
Just under 100. Again, totally flawed…but many media outlets conduct such polls and attempt to pass them off as “this is definitely what people believe.” I’m saying, well, this is interesting, but not every possible demographic responded. At the same time, I didn’t target, say, downtown workers, with the questions.
Richard
I am very interested in those folks who grown their own food. Are we talking here the tomatoes, lettuce, summer squash etc. grown in a community garden or in someones back yard during the summer months or are we talking here, I grown my own food, and live off the land. My supermarket is my backyard, the storage cellar, and the pantry. If that is the case many blessings Kerri as you have a lot of farmers reading your blog. If not then the folks who answered that way are bogus.
Of course if its just a few plants here and there in the summer that hardly qualifies as grow your own food. Thats more like a snack.
Local to me is up close, this area, not 100 or 250 miles away. One thing I always thought was a part of eating local was to cut down on the consumption of gas and oil to get our food to the table.(and to cut down on our consumption of gas and oil getting to the supermarket, no we are not off the hook either.)
Its also funny to see the markets where the inner city low income folks shop Save-a lot, C-Town, El Mercado to have such a low go.
I love the one about the ideal grocery story and the winner is locally grown produce. Good luck when old man winter blows his cold breath at us. Maybe someone could build a cold frame on the south side of their house and sell the over abundance of their labor to Whole Foods, one of the biggest rip off anti union, anti-small health food store, places there is, where lap dogs of the capitalist class and other ninnys shop. HA!! At least folks will all die healthy and Mr. John Mackey will continue racking in the big bucks.
Kerri Provost
What I had in mind is people growing some of their own food. Since nobody responded that they only get their food from a single source, this could mean they buy no produce all summer, or maybe they supplement. (My own response is reflected in a combo of grow own, CSA, farmers’ market, and several dif. grocery stores. Also, sometimes friends give me food from their gardens.) Even when almost broke, I have prioritized healthy food over non-necessities like cable, phone, or auto repairs.
To clarify, people who don’t really read the blog also responded, as others sent a link out to the poll.
Chris
What’s really important is that Pac Man has secured enough food. That first illustration eased my mind.
Thank You
Kerri Provost
Yeah, but how is Ms. Pac-Man faring?