I spent a Saturday driving through NE Washington,DC in the neighborhoods and also headed back downtown.I was on my usual quest for interesting images to photograph and one thing that caught my eye was the preponderance of small inner city neighborhood grocery stores and liquor stores.Now I'm sure you can find bread, milk, OJ, etc. inside these stores but they are a far cry from the suburban, or even better city neighborhood, food emporiums like Whole Foods, Giant or Trader Joe's.
The signage on these "stores" always list beer, wine, liquor, lotto and check cashing. Not quite the five daily food groups but unfortunately, it seems in the ghetto, that is what is being told...and sold.
It is unfortunate that this exploitation has been going on for decades and it does not appear to be ending anytime soon. In addition to the glut of liquor stores, the inner city neighborhoods have excessive amount of fast food restaurants. The lack of quality produce
and better dining choices contribute to a long list of ills including heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, etc. which adds to our nation's health care crisis. That is for another blog post.
Even when construction is going on and a neighborhood is changing, one constant in the inner cities across America,are liquor stores and churches. I'd rather see more recreational centers and libraries but then that's just me. Something has to fundamentally change in each and every neighborhood and until it does we will continue to have major problems as a nation.
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