Nov 23, 2019

Baldwin, Florida, opens government-run grocery store to address food desert

Marisa Fernandez

Produce at a grocery store. Photo: Seth McConnell/The Denver Post via Getty Images

After the only grocery store in Baldwin, Florida, closed, the mayor opened a market run by the local government to help limit the community's reliance on fast food and dollar stores, the Washington Post reports.

The big picture: Small, low-income communities suffer in food deserts, where it requires trips that are in the tens of miles to access fresh groceries. About 13.5 million people live in food deserts across the U.S., per the USDA.

The state of play: "By definition, a collectively owned, government-run enterprise like the Baldwin Market is inherently socialist," the Washington Post's Antonia Noori Farzan writes.

  • More often, nonprofits move into food deserts with their own stores or residents establish food cooperatives.
  • Baldwin's mayor sees the grocery store as another government service it's providing to taxpayers in a town where 68% of the residents voted for Donald Trump in 2016.

Go deeper: Cities lead the backlash against dollar stores

Go deeper

Rashaan Ayesh

Report: Trump's new SNAP rules could push thousands off benefits

A volunteer packs boxes with food to be handed out to needy people. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The Trump administration is rolling out new rules in April 2020 that could cause 223,000 people to lose food aid benefits, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Why it matters: Officials say the rule will encourage more people to work. However, critics say this is another example of the Trump administration's "efforts to deepen hardships" of the poor while cutting congressional authority over assistance programs, the Wall Street Journal writes.

Go deeperArrowDec 4, 2019
Courtenay Brown

Dollar Tree says the U.S.-China trade war will cost it $19 million in Q4

A Dollar Tree store in California. Photo: Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Dollar Tree said acceleration of the trade war with China would up its costs by $19 million in Q4.

Why it matters: Even as the Trump administration says it’s close to a "phase one" trade deal with China, corporations are bearing down and preparing Wall Street for the worst-case scenario.

Go deeperArrowNov 27, 2019
Orion Rummler

Trump's proposed changes to food stamps could affect 3.7 million Americans

Photo: Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Roughly 3.7 million fewer people could receive food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) if the Trump administration's proposed restrictions are implemented, a recent Urban Institute study found.

What they found: Households in California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington state and Texas would be disproportionately affected by the restrictions.

Go deeperArrowNov 30, 2019