Healthy Food

Oakland, CA

Local City Rankings Article

The Grocery Gap

Getting a six pack of beer or a bottle of whiskey is no problem for the residents of West Oakland, Ca. Getting a dozen eggs or a quart of milk? That’s a different story altogether. Bluntly stated, there are no grocery stores in West Oakland, but there are a total of 57 liquor stores—for just 30,000 residents. Among these residents, the diabetes rate is three times higher than in the rest of Alameda county, hypertension rates are elevated, and mortality rates rival those of nations in the developing world. “We see a real problem when Cheetos are a choice for breakfast,” says Brahm Ahmadi, co-founder and executive director of the People’s Grocery, an organization aiming to address the lack of access to--and lack of knowledge of--healthy food in the West Oakland community.