By Carla Davis with contributions from Marlissa Collier & Sam Judy
Hunger as a Weapon
As the Dallas Weekly began to dive deeper into the history, the reasons and results of food deserts and how they have impacted communities around the world, specifically South Dallas, the series “Purposeful Starvation” was born. Though a cruel sounding term, it captures the idea that food insecurity has become a part of the everyday fight for a basic human right that people all over the world are engaged in.
Throughout history, hunger has been a cruel and devastating weapon of war. The cruel war tactics that centered using hunger as a tool have historically included siege warfare, or the cutting off enemy cities or fortresses from food supplies has been a tactic for centuries. The goal is to force surrender by starving the population inside. A famous example is the Nazi siege of Leningrad during World War II, where hundreds of thousands died of starvation. More recently, the world has watched a series of blockades, where forces prevent food and other supplies from reaching a region can be a deliberate strategy to create widespread hunger. This tactic is often used in modern conflicts, like the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip.
“As long as people send guns instead of food to starving people, there will be wars.”
Bob Marley
Defining Food Insecurity
When it comes to the issue of food, it’s easy to confuse food insecurity with hunger. Food insecurity is a situation where people don’t have consistent access to enough nutritious food. Still, food insecurity is different from hunger, which is the physical feeling of being without food. Food insecurity, for the most part, is a household-level issue, meaning a family or individuals living together can’t afford or reliably get the amount of food they need, while hunger is a personal feeling caused by not eating enough.
Food insecurities exist because of lack. Lack of finances is usually the key factor but in certain parts of certain cities, lack is not just financial but proximity as well. These areas have become known as “food deserts”, or an area where residents have limited access to affordable, healthy, and nutritious food.
Studies show that food deserts generally occur in Southern states and in impoverished areas. Rural areas and low-income communities are more likely to be classified as food deserts. This is due to factors like limited population density making grocery stores less profitable and residents having fewer resources for transportation. These factors not only affect access to nutritious food, but also the cost to access sustenance.
A 1997 USDA report, “Do the Poor Pay More for Food?” cited three reasons the poor pay more. First, low-income households spend less in supermarkets – which typically offer the lowest prices and greatest range of brands, package sizes, and quality choices. Next, low-income households are less likely to live in suburban locations where food prices are typically lower. Finally, supermarkets in low-income neighborhoods charge higher prices than those in nearby higher income neighborhoods. There is no real explanation as to why supermarkets charge more in impoverished areas other than they just do.
The State of Food in South Dallas
Dallas doesn’t escape the issue of food deserts. In Dallas, District 7 comprises eight zip codes, four of which make up South Dallas: 75210, 75215, 75216, and 75217. The estimated population of the four South Dallas zip codes is approximately 170,000. Out of the 1,933 Texas zip codes, 75217 ranks 16th as one of the most populated with an estimated 87,154 residents living on a median income level of $49,841 (as of 2022) annually according to data obtained from the North Texas Food Bank and incomebyzipcode.com.
Feeding America is a network of food banks, food pantries, local meal programs that focus on feeding hungry Americans and addressing policy to rectify the growing hunger crisis in the United States. Feed America provided the Dallas Weekly with 2023 data showing they served a total of 8,876,602 meals to residents in the four zip codes that make up South Dallas. The most populated zip code, 75217 received 3,499,694 meals with 75216 receiving the most meals at 3,534,747. Additionally, 75215 followed in the number of meals provided with 1,854,023 total and the adjoining 75210 receiving a total of 788,13.
“I think what comes to mind when I think of the use of hunger in oppression is the fact that it’s always paired with something. Hunger is always the companion, the slower companion, to a more devastating and faster option. It’s never just hunger. It’s bombs and hunger. It’s red lining and hunger. It’s the looting of [the] city budget in a particular part of town and hunger. Hunger is always the second and slower option. It’s passive oppression because they know that human beings need good clean food to live – and so not only are we not going to give your schools the same amount and not going to provide federal insurance on the loans in your part of town, but we also just won’t invest in quality supermarkets in your part of town.”
Great Black Century, Artist & South Dallas Resident
One of the major issues South Dallas faces is an unwillingness on the part of major grocery retailers to invest in the area. Premium and full service supermarkets, for the most part, are reluctant to invest in low income areas, citing a lagging potential return on the investment and theft insurance corporate leaders find necessary for said stories. Major grocers cite these same factors as a cause for closing the few grocery options in South Dallas.
What’s Left to Eat in South Dallas?
The recent closing of the Save-A-Lot supermarket on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd left many of the residents with a single full-service grocery store, Fiesta Mart #212 located on Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, which may also be closing its doors. What is available at large for South Dallas residents are multiple small corner stores with over-priced products and snacks. In the four zip codes that make up South Dallas, there are three Fiesta grocery stores, several smaller supermarkets (mostly in zip code 75217), and a few discount markets such as Malone’s Cost Plus and Cash Saver. There are also a handful of Family Dollar stores, one now combined with its sister store Dollar Tree, and several no-brand $.99 cent stores.
Dallas Weekly spoke with patrons of the Fiesta Mart #212, which is less than two blocks from the former Save-A-Lot about the effects of the closing of grocery options, increasing prices, proximity to decent options and what type of grocery stores they would like to see in their neighborhood. The consensus amongst residents was that the remaining Fiesta Mart was overpriced and that the food quality was lower than their standards. Residents, when asked their thoughts about rumors of Fiesta’s impending closing, expressed their concern for the potential of having to travel outside of their neighborhood to buy food. Many of them who had been former shoppers of Sav-A-Lot felt that they shouldn’t have to go to another district to buy quality foods at a decent price.
“They got money for wars but can’t feed the poor.”
Tupac Shakur
SOUTH DALLAS FOOD DESERTS BASED ON THE USDA CRITERIA | Research Gate by Murray D. Rice
The Impact on South Dallas Residents
Donny, a lifelong resident of South Dallas, homeowner and business owner said, “It’s really disappointing when you grow up in an area where things are bad, go away to college and come back and nothing has changed.” Donny is involved with community efforts and is concerned that no one at City Hall is doing anything about the rising cost of living. When asked where he would shop if Fiesta were to close, Donny responded, “anywhere but here.” “I have to fight flies and fruit flies to get to the produce.” Donny said he already travels as far as Lemmon Avenue to patron Whole Foods and to Pleasant Grove to shop at the Hispanic markets where he says he is able to get better produce for less.
An elderly couple was seen carrying several plastic grocery bags as they walked on Martin Luther King Blvd. When asked about the impact of Save-A-Lot closing, the couple said that “it’s too expensive and too far to walk. Sav-A-Lot was closer to us.” Nick, who lives in 75215, said out-right that his grocery costs have increased overall and that he found the prices at Save-A-Lot more aligned for his budget, adding that would like to have a Kroger or Aldi grocery store closer to home.
Della said she had the same story as she and her two boys loaded up their bags into a car service. She usually goes to Walmart or Kroger to shop but this time, she did not have a car to go over to either location in the 75204 area she usually visits to get groceries. When asked if online grocery shopping and delivery was an option, Della said she likes to purchase her own groceries to make sure she is getting what she wants and paid for and doesn’t mind spending a little extra at better stores.
Eighteen year-old Ta’Dondrian Crayton explained that the closing of Save-A-Lot had also impacted his family, leaving the family with the ultimatum of shopping at the remaining Fiesta or traveling outside of the neighborhood to find food. “We would usually go to Save-A-Lot before it closed down, so now we go to Fiesta or Walmart when we have to.”
Other patrons expressed that they would like to see a Kroger or Albertsons in the neighborhood, many feeling the same as 75215 resident Charlie Alexander. “I’d like to see them put in an Albertsons or Kroger but they ain’t going to put those kinds of stores in South Dallas. Not for us”, says Alexander.
Though some city leaders are looking at ways to make stores work in underserved areas, recent attempts to attract a major grocer have failed. As discussed earlier, grocery stores are businesses, and they look for areas with residents who have disposable income to spend. South Dallas has a lower median household income than the Dallas average leading grocers to project lower overall sales in the area. Still, even with the City Council’s unanimous vote, approving a $5 million incentive to bring a full-service Tom Thumb grocery store in, there has been little progress.
The availability of city funding, yet the lack of progress in bringing in a grocer to South Dallas residents does make one wonder, “is South Dallas being starved on purpose?” Dallas Weekly reached out to District 7 Dallas City Councilman Adam Bazaldua about plans for better food options for South Dallas residents. While Bazaldua declined the interview, he did respond to our request, stating “at the moment, we are working with property owners and various departments to address food insecurity in South Dallas. We will ensure to keep you apprised of any new developments.”
Is hunger a weapon? In South Dallas, limited access to grocery stores creates a food desert, impacting families and health. Dallas Weekly is diving deep into the food desert crisis, exposing how lack of access to healthy food threatens a community’s well-being. This series explores the roots of food insecurity and the fight for change.