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ITTA BENA, Miss. (AP) — The growing season for a grocery store in Itta Bena is a long one.
The community of 1,800 people lost its Big Star grocery store in 2009, and seven years later it is seeing some progress in efforts to bring its residents healthy food.
In April, the Delta Business Alliance and Mississippi Valley State University Foundation applied for a federal grant from the Community Economic Development Healthy Food Financing Initiative. If the grant is awarded in full, the project could see as much as $800,000 toward a $1.5 million fundraising goal.
This application, along with another to the Delta Regional Authority, helps fulfill a first fundraising stage of Itta Bena's action plan for Local Foods, Local Places, a federal initiative for which Itta Bena was designated a recipient of technical support in 2014.
Local Foods, Local Places is a partnership of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Delta Regional Authority and the Centers for Disease Control.
Itta Bena was one of 26 communities chosen for the initiative from 316 applicants.
Jacksonbased planner Malcolm Shepherd, who filed the application for Itta Bena's Food Network, a working committee dedicated to getting the town a store while improving health and revitalizing downtown, says the group received a monthlong extension beyond the original March 3 deadline.
"It's happening, slow but sure," said Shepherd.
Itta Bena Mayor Thelma Collins is spokeswoman for the board that oversees the group's fundraising efforts.
Since Itta Bena was designated a Local Foods, Local Places participant, community members, federal agencies and consultants have met, and a board for the Food Network has been formed.
The city also has considered potential sites for the store and applied for grant funds to purchase and refurbish a building.
"It's a long process," said Collins. "We're waiting to see what will be the result of our grants, and we're somewhat in the process of trying to purchase the (downtown Big Star) building."
The Big Star building has stood empty since the company pulled out of Itta Bena in 2009 and is now in a state of advanced disrepair. But its location fits with the goals of the overall initiative — to encourage citizens to change their eating habits and exercise for better health while revitalizing downtown.
Once a month, for example, the town sponsors a community walking event. And if the grocery store ends up in the central downtown location of the old Big Star, says Collins, more people will be encouraged to walk there, exercising and also providing foot traffic for other downtown businesses. Many of the town's storefronts are vacant.
Right now, the group's most visible and successful effort related to the initiative is a large community garden on Miller Road that provides fresh produce to senior citizens in the community first, then to families with young children. A 10mile trip to Greenwood is more prohibitively difficult and costly for those who need more nutritious food than they can buy in a convenience store, the only place to shop in Itta Bena.
"We've (planted) purple hull and crowder peas, squash, cucumbers, green beans, tomatoes, butter beans, okra and greens, and I'm not sure whether they've planted watermelons yet," says Gladys Fant, a community member and supporter of the healthy foods initiative.
Gardeners Henry Fant, John Upton, Robert Barner, Clauzel Gamble and Jason Doyle "pretty much take care of the garden," and Samuel Chapel United Church supports the entire initiative with its active health ministry, Collins said.
Itta Bena's action plan, "Strengthening the Local Food System and Downtown Revitalization," which was drawn up under the supervision of Local Foods, Local Places, is ambitious and comprehensive. It cites sobering health statistics in rural Leflore County, where nearly 15 percent of adults have diabetes and more than 43 percent have high blood pressure, exceeding state averages that are among the highest in the nation.
The plan identifies strengths, challenges and opportunities Itta Bena faces as it attempts to meet the challenge of providing healthier food choices for its citizens. Chief among them is deciding whether the town wants to move toward a cooperative, communityowned and operated market or a commercial market.
Some consultants have said it's not realistic to expect a big for-profit company to open and sustain a grocery store in a town with such a small population. But the challenges of running a private nonprofit cooperative are many, including financial accounting, establishing a legal structure, procuring and maintaining a site, and organizing members.
Those decisions and many more are being pondered by the initiative's board as the project continues to germinate and grow. If goals are met, one by one, Itta Bena will inch closer toward a bumper crop.
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Information from: The Greenwood Commonwealth, http://www.gwcommonwealth.com
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