By Josh Archote, The Post and Courier Columbia
In a packed Eau Claire High School auditorium, three City Council members joined nonprofit and religious leaders on March 18 to pledge support for policies aimed at curbing food insecurity in Columbia.
Councilmen Will Brennan and Tyler Bailey enthusiastically answered “yes” to whether they would support a measure allocating $240,000 a year toward easing food insecurity, one of several policy recommendations outlined by the nonprofit More Justice Columbia.
An attentive crowd applauded.
Observers likely expected the same — an affirmative yes followed by a short speech on the importance of addressing food insecurity — from the last council member, District 1 representative Tina Herbert, who has been working on food insecurity issues during her nearly 15-year tenure working for the city, both on council and as an employee.
What they got instead was a tense back-and-forth between Herbert and Tami Ashford-Carroll, a public health professor at Benedict College and More Justice member, as the councilwoman repeatedly declined to back the organization’s recommendations.
The exchange took place during the nonprofit’s annual Nehemiah Action event, where the organization asks local leaders to endorse policies on social issues such as gun violence, housing, mental health and food insecurity.
The debate highlighted differences in opinion between the nonprofit, Herbert and other City Council members on how to address food insecurity, a key issue affecting roughly 65,000 people in Richland County, many of whom reside in predominantly Black and low-income areas of North Columbia.
‘Can’t afford to wait and see’
A report from the city’s Food Policy Committee found that 65,000 residents, including nearly 15,000 children, in Richland County are food insecure — meaning they lack access, ability, availability or income to buy healthy, safe and culturally appropriate food.
While More Justice celebrated the city’s most recent food insecurity initiative, a mobile market selling fresh produce in north Columbia, they also asked for more, including $20,000 a month for the market and other measures, starting in 2025.
They also asked for officials to support expanding the mobile market, which currently operates three different locations three days a week, to six more locations.
Herbert told The Post and Courier in a previous interview that she and others would like the market to eventually become self-sufficient and run as a business without the city’s support.
“We only want to sustain businesses that are effective,” Herbert said in February. “We’re going to test the market and see how it works. And I’m hoping that it works well and that it generates its own income.”
In six months, the city plans to assess the effectiveness of the mobile grocery store and decide whether to continue putting money behind it.
The nonprofit disagrees with this approach.
“Our research has shown that this is not setting up the market for success,” Ashford-Carroll said before inviting council members on stage.
These kinds of programs need at least three years to find the best schedule and locations, establish themselves in the community and build a returning customer base, Ashford-Carroll said.
They often also need outside financial support, usually from local governments, to keep prices low enough to be affordable in low-income communities. Citing research from the National Mobile Market Coalition, Ashford-Carroll said that many of these programs would have to double their prices to just break even.
“We have been told by several council members to wait and see how it performs,” she said. “Those living every day with food insecurity can’t afford to wait and see.”
Herbert said that the vision for the mobile market, which she has been involved in since 2017, was to prop up a small business offering fresh groceries to food deserts that would eventually become self-sustainable.
Ashford-Carroll said that this is an unrealistic expectation, and the market will need city dollars behind it for longer, given the number of grocery stores that have closed in the 29203 and 29204 area codes.
“We fear that … it’s expected just to start turning a profit within six months, and it really ends up being just another manifestation of all the grocery stores that come in (and close),” More Justice member and Lutheran pastor Eric Fink said.
Herbert also pointed out that just because healthier food options become available to a community does not mean that those communities will automatically start choosing those foods.
A number of studies support this, often finding that improving access to healthy foods alone is usually not enough to make a meaningful difference in diets of lower-income communities.
For this reason, Ashford-Carroll said that they would like some of the $20,000 to go toward marketing the mobile market, cooking classes and other tools to help improve the diet choices in such communities. City officials have also repeated the need for such resources, but no concrete plans have been announced.
Asked to consider extending the time frame on evaluating the market’s success, Herbert didn’t budge.
“When people are hungry, that is a very basic need, and that need is met through food,” Ashford-Carroll said to Herbert at the event.
“I have been on food stamps, so I understand that,” the councilwoman interrupted.
“I would reiterate it took us five years to get to this point,” Ashford-Carroll said.
“I know, because I’m the one who’s been trying to get it,” Herbert responded. “I am the person that made sure we got it this time.”
Murmurs and uncomfortable laughter could be heard throughout the crowd during the increasingly tense exchange.
“It’s disappointing that you don’t agree with us in terms of how important this is,” Ashford-Carroll said to Herbert.
“That is not correct,” Herbert said twice. “I just don’t believe in the methodology, the way to get to that. I don’t think that’s a fair characterization.”
Herbert told The Post and Courier that the back-and-forth was expected, as their disagreements had been laid out in private meetings beforehand.
“They knew I wasn’t going to change my mind,” she said.
Commitments or empty promises?
Herbert said that because she has been closely involved with food policy during her time on council, food insecurity measures would go through her before making their way to council.
Despite Brennan and Bailey’s commitments to the policy proposals, there likely won’t be any food insecurity-related items on City Council agendas anytime soon, Herbert said.
“(Brennan and Bailey) are politicians. I am not,” Herbert said.
“They were just being nice,” she added.
Bailey said he hopes the public understands that proposals need broad support and at least four votes in favor to move forward through council, and that his pledge shows that he and Brennan are committed to ensuring the success of the mobile food market and easing food insecurity across the city.
“We don’t get up for 1,000 people just to say something, appease the crowd,” Bailey, the newest City Council member, said.
“People can call it an empty promise, but I call it commitment to funding in the future,” Brennan added.
View the original story here.
