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Whole Foods is a chain known for its stock of organic and naturally grown food options, but even a generic chain supermarket like Giant or Safeway usually carries the basic components of a healthy diet: whole grain breads and cereals, lowfat milk and dairy products, and fresh fruits and vegetables. However, because supermarkets are unevenly distributed among DC's eight wards, some residents cannot obtain these staple foods. According to Shana McDavis- Conway of DC Hunger Solutions, a project of the Food Research and Action Center, "the struggle of life without a grocery store is experienced most acutely in neighborhoods with many low-income residents." The district is therefore divided along class lines. DC's 3rd Ward, which comprises most of the affluent northwest neighborhoods, can boast a poverty rate of only 7.5% and one supermarket for every 12,000 residents. Meanwhile, in Ward 8, at the southernmost corner of the DC diamond, 36% of residents officially live in poverty; here, not a single chain supermarket serves over 70,000 people. A complete selection of fresh groceries can be more than half an hour away for these residents, a high proportion of whom do not have cars.
"I have to pay someone to take me to the grocery store in Maryland because there's nowhere to shop in my neighborhood," said one Ward 8 resident in an interview with P.H. An online grocery service that provides home delivery may be a viable alternative, but it does not allow shoppers to use their Electronic Benefit Transfer cards (debit cards that the state gives to needy individuals, and which provide both food and cash benefits). On the other hand, a round trip by taxi to the nearest supermarket can run up to $80. The scarcity and inaccessibility of large supermarkets force residents in DC's poorer southeastern wards to choose between incurring additional transportation costs to get groceries and buying lower-quality food from fast-food restaurants, street vendors, or small corner stores like Euclid Market. These establishments often do not have the means and equipment to stock healthy foods such as milk or fresh produce because of their special refrigeration needs and their short shelf lives.
"For small, independent operations, it can be too costly to provide foods of higher nutritional value," McDavis-Conway told P.H. "It is more expensive to buy and maintain milk than nonperishable sodas and potato chips." If healthy foods are sold, it is only at prices higher than their unhealthy counterparts. According to McDavis-Conway, small businesses pay higher prices for healthy food and pass those higher charges on to the consumer. A report released in July 2006 by DC Hunger Solutions found that wheat bread is on average about 50 cents more expensive than white bread, and milk is over a dollar more expensive than cola. Many consumers choose unhealthier options out of economic necessity. Stocking unprofitable food then becomes even more unprofitable -- perpetuating a vicious cycle.
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