The Dalhousie neighbourhood may get some much-needed nutrition relief after two years without a grocery store.
After surveying about 500 residents, a feasibility study found the area had an overwhelming need for affordable, fresh food.
The neighbourhood can support a non-profit, “small-sized” food store between 5,000 and 7,500 square feet, said Gene Williams, who conducted the study. The dimensions would be double the size of the 7-Eleven convenience store near Gladstone Avenue.
“There was tons of community support and interest,” said Heather Hossie, the study’s creator, who is also co-ordinator for Savour Ottawa and Just Food. “We already knew support was huge, but this study brought that forward.”
The need for a new food store arose from community uproar after the Loeb grocery store on Booth Street closed nearly two years ago.
Hossie said she does not know where the new food store would go, and that it is too early to speculate possible sites. The old Loeb building is an option, she said, but it needs a lot of work.
The Dalhousie community includes people who work or live in the area between Bank Street, Parkdale Avenue and north of Carling Avenue.
The store could create local jobs and help the community’s lower-income families who currently spend their money on expensive and unhealthy food products, said Williams, also director of health promotion for the Somerset West Community Health Centre.
“It’s all about improving people’s access to affordable, nutritious foods,” he added. “Right now, seniors and working couples have to travel a long ways for affordable food, and that causes a food desert.”
The study also consulted numerous community groups. Just Food, Good Food Box, and Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation are only a few. The Somerset Community Health Centre board of directors has to approve the study’s findings before it is available to the public. Hossie and Williams will present those findings to the board Feb. 27.
Hossie, a Dalhousie resident who shopped at the old Loeb store, remains cautious. “I don’t want to build an expectation that it could happen,” she said.
“But this is a unique community with unique needs and I hope that everyone can have access to affordable, fresh food, and that’s not possible without the store.”
Dalhousie resident Marilyn Arnold said Hartman’s grocery store is the most convenient place to shop right now, but that it costs more to travel and buy groceries there, especially in the winter and for the elderly.
“If the store re-opened, it would be marvellous,” she said.
Hossie said they need community groups to help fund the project if they plan to develop a new store or co-op.
If all goes well, she says the store could be developed mid-2009.