HOUSTON – Most of you probably don't think twice about going food shopping. The grocery store is a mile away or less, you have a car to get there and most importantly money to afford to buy what you need.
But the U.S. Department of Agriculture has labeled some parts of our city as food deserts, where people don't have easy access to basics like fresh fruits and vegetables.
This is how the USDA defines a food desert: "A food desert is a low-income census tract where either a substantial number or share of residents has low access to a supermarket or large grocery store. "Low income" tracts are defined as those where at least 20 percent of the people have income at or below the federal poverty levels for family size, or where median family income for the tract is at or below 80 percent of the surrounding area's median family income. Tracts qualify as "low access" tracts if at least 500 persons or 33 percent of their population live more than a mile from a supermarket or large grocery store (for rural census tracts, the distance is more than 10 miles)."
At the corner of Alabama and Tierwester in Houston's Third Ward, Shiheem Wallis, a local artist who also goes by the name of Stayy Truee, set up a fruit stand called Fruit Life.
"Now I'm here and they can just walk right on the block and eat fresh fruit, live long and live fresh," Wallis said.
The closest major grocery store is a Fiesta 1.6 miles away, followed by H-E-B two miles away and an Aldi 2.5 miles away. There is a corner store nearby, but Wallis said it didn't have what he was looking for.
"I walked out to find something healthy something that will make me live a little longer and all they have around here is stick-up stores and places that don't really cater to your body just death. I'm bringing life to the community," he said.
He opened the fruit stand in late January, chopping fresh fruits and selling them in bowls for $5 each.
"I was going to the store and I was going to get me some snacks and I thought it was time for me to change and fruits is the next best thing," Third Ward resident Charles said.
The fruit stand is close to Texas Southern University and popular with students.
"I stopped by because I saw all the fresh fruit and it looked really good and I love fruit," said Chariah Harden.
Other customers said they liked having a healthy and convenient option in the neighborhood.
"This young man should have a building with a lot of space where people will come to this business and it will grow because this is something we need in our community," said Rotonia Harrell.
Wallis said he hopes to expand to brick-and-mortar locations soon.
"I plan to have storefronts starting with one and also stands inside of colleges and high schools, so they can also have access to fresh fruit," he said.
You can find Fruit Life on Facebook here.
If you'd like to help Wallis expand his business you can donate here.
Most of you probably don't think twice about going food shopping. The grocery store is a mile away or less, you have a car to get there and most importantly money to afford to buy what you need. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture has labeled some parts of our city as food deserts, where people don't have access to basics like fresh fruits and vegetables. Today we're going to talk about this and introduce you to a young man doing his part to change the situation in one neighborhood.
Posted by KPRC2 Syan Rhodes on Monday, March 6, 2017