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2004 National College Media Convention
Next Generation Radio Project
Nashville, Tennessee
November 2-6, 2004
Kristin Murdock's Script
 Hear Kristin's piece
For most, driving to the grocery store is a trip down the street. For others, it's a journey to town or even another county. Sociologists refer to these parts of the country as "food deserts." Next Generation Radio's Kristin Murdock reports on rural general stores that provide the basics but not all necessities...
(Nat sound: cash register) Kees grocery is nestled in the rolling hills of Eastern Kentucky. The tiny family-owned store is a great place for area sawmill workers to get a deli sandwich. Manager Mike Debellifey says it's also a good place to get a low-priced gallon of milk. At Kees, Debellifey says they stress the importance of convenience to their customers...
(Kees: "It's to keep a person to from having to burn five dollars worth of gas driving to Wal-mart or Food Lion, especially if they are just needin' milk and bread, or just a few various items." :10)
Although these mom and pop stores may be convenient, they don't usually offer healthy food. And, the prices are higher. Debellifey says the items they sell may be 75 cents to a dollar more than what shoppers find at a larger grocery...
(Debellefey: "Hey we're not Wal-mart" :)
So, when Rural resident Ruslyn Case-Compton needs to get a week's supply of groceries, she drives to Wal-mart 20 minutes away. She only shops for her family meals twice a month...
(Case-Compton: "I plan menus for fourteen days and then I just buy everything that I need for those fourteen days. Kinda cycle it around our pay period. So when we get paid, I know in the next couple of days I will go grocery shopping. Then I don't have to run as much. I think you save money when you plan meals and menus in advance" :13)
Case-Compton says the quality of the food and low prices at Walmart outweigh the hassle of the long trip. But those long trips are few and far between, and they can lead to health problems. Sociologist Troy Blanchard says it's difficult for people to keep fresh fruits and vegetables, if they only go to the grocery store twice a month...
(Blanchard: "Because we know fruit and vegetable intake is linked to a variety of health problems like heart disease, stroke and different kinds of cancer." :11)
Mike Debellifey says Kees can't stock fresh produce for shoppers because of the short shelf life.
(Nat sound: modernized cash register "beeping")
In a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee, Kroger Manager Malcolm Hill says the low prices and accessibility of the store keeps customer coming back. Hill says sometimes people move out of the area, but still make that trip to his store...
(Hill: "Say it's an upscale area, they like shopping where they feel they are safe. They enjoy the people. They like shopping with their peers" :10)
Sociologists say people may not mind driving now, but in the future they might not have another option. Big box stores and major grocery chains may send mom-and-pop stores out of business. If that happens, these places will become literal food deserts with a long stretch of highway separating them from the nearest grocery store.
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