I was recently interviewed by Jonmaesha Beltran from ecoRI News about food deserts in Woonsocket, and it brought me back to a part of my life that a lot of people in government seem to understand only in theory.
At one point, I lived in Woonsocket without a car. That meant grocery shopping was not a simple errand. It was a problem I had to plan around.
Living Without Transportation
When you do not have reliable transportation, food becomes more expensive, more limited, and more stressful. You are not just choosing where to shop. You are choosing between walking a long distance, asking someone for a ride, or buying what you can from the closest convenience store or bodega.
I remember how inconvenient it was. Food stamps did not go nearly as far at the small local stores. The prices were higher, the produce was older, the selection was thinner, and meat was rarely worth buying because the cost difference was so large. A lot of the time, you ended up with generic, non-name-brand food, whatever was available, and whatever you could afford.
The other side of it was more personal. It was embarrassing having to ask people for rides to the supermarket. Not because there is anything wrong with needing help, but because no adult wants to feel like buying groceries requires calling in a favor.
That is the part people miss when they talk about food deserts like they are just a map problem. It is not only about distance. It is about dignity. It is about whether a working person, an elderly person, a young parent, or someone going through a hard time can get decent food without spending half the day figuring it out.
Predatory Deed Restrictions
The ecoRI article also points to something bigger than one city or one store. Some former grocery locations have deed restrictions that prevent another grocery store from opening there. In plain English, that means a company can leave a neighborhood and still block a competitor from coming in after them.
That should not be legal.
If a grocery company wants to close a location, that is one thing. But it should not be able to poison the land behind it and stop the community from replacing what was lost. That is not a free market. That is anti-competitive behavior, and regular people pay the price.
Policy Solutions
Rhode Island residents should not have fewer food options because large corporations are protecting market share. Families should not have to rely on overpriced convenience stores because better locations are locked up by legal fine print. People should not be punished for being poor, elderly, disabled, carless, or simply living in the wrong part of the city.
This is why I believe we need to ban grocery store deed restrictions, take anti-competitive behavior seriously, and look at public options when the private market fails. If a city or state can support public libraries, public schools, public parks, and public utilities, then we should be willing to discuss publicly supported grocery stores in communities where people cannot access affordable food.
That does not mean replacing every private grocery store. It means admitting that food access is basic infrastructure. When the market works, fine. When the market fails, government should not shrug and tell people to buy dinner from a corner store at twice the price.
Speaking from Experience
I am speaking about this as a Woonsocket resident who has lived real life here. I know what it feels like to stretch food stamps. I know what it feels like to walk farther than you should have to for groceries. I know what it feels like to ask for a ride when you would rather just handle your own business.
Food deserts are not just unfortunate. They are often the result of choices: corporate choices, legal choices, zoning choices, and political choices.
We can make different choices.
Thank you to ecoRI News and Jonmaesha Beltran for covering this issue and giving attention to what many Woonsocket residents have experienced firsthand.