By james art BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPRUD) — Data shows Scotlandville meets the criteria to be designated East Baton Rouge’s largest food desert.
Scotlandville Food Access Commission organizer Eugene Collins says with more money, leaders can continue to push the city out of that title.
“What we’re looking at is we have to look at the data and the trends that actually justify that. And today, you know, we have funding that has been allocated for this particular project,” Collins said.
The area in mind, the Harding Boulevard corridor near Baton Rouge Airport. Collins says it’s the second largest exit in Baton Rouge, with more than 150,000 cars going through it. He says it’s the perfect area to thrive.
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“We have a lot of traffic through this community, as well as 105 major businesses within a five-mile radius of this particular site, which makes this site viable,” Collins said.
People living nearby shared their thoughts on paper and asked questions, with some wondering how this would benefit students, particularly at Southern University. Collins says that while that discussion is still ongoing, they are getting closer to achieving their goal.
“This is the closest we’ve ever seen a grocery store in this community,” Collins said.
Collins says that by making sure the community has a voice moving forward, the future of more food access for the area can become bigger.
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“We need this not only to have a successful project, but also as part of the funding process. So we have to have the input of the community,” Collins said.
The next meeting is scheduled for Friday, November 1.
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