Buffalo, New York — This morning, the Fruit Belt Advisory Council, African Heritage Food Co-op, as well as Fruit Belt leaders and residents gathered in front of 238 Carlton Street in Buffalo, New York. The press conference comes in the wake of a white supremacist mass shooting at Tops on Jefferson on May 14, 2022. The call for public and private investment into the African Heritage Food Co-op (AHFC) has an increased urgency due to the closure of the only full service grocery store within miles of the Fruit Belt neighborhood.
The call was a familiar one. The Fruit Belt Advisory Council and African Heritage Food Co-op teamed up in 2018 to host a press conference in the same location. The initial call was for the owners of the building to transfer ownership of the building without further delay, and for public dollars to be invested into the rehab of the building. The AHFC has shared plans to create a flagship store in the location for several years. It would be a model for neighboring East Buffalo communities who suffer from chronic food insecurity and concentrated poverty due to decades of racist policies.
The African Heritage Food Co-op is worthy of deep investment and here’s why: it will provide healthy, fresh, affordable, and culturally relevant food to the neighborhood while providing living wage jobs for people in the immediate community, and create a food secure neighborhood in Buffalo’s perpetually food insecure East Buffalo. The people of the Fruit Belt neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods need and deserve food access, equity, and justice now.
“The opportunity to finally create real investment that helps all residents of the Fruit Belt is due to the unfortunate and senseless massacre that happened at Tops, ” said Fruit Belt Advisory Council President Dennice Barr. “That’s not okay, but now is the time.. Economic development and prosperity for generations to come is what we need, deserve, and we’ll accept nothing less.”
“The Fruit Belt neighborhood is in desperate need of fresh food, fruit, vegetables, and items that would contribute to a nutritious diet and overall healthy lifestyle, said Elverna Gidney, a long-time, proud Fruit Belt resident. “We have been strategically manipulated out of our economic resources by various institutions in the past, including the government and private sector. It’s past time for them to do the right thing and invest in AHFC now.”
Donations are being accepted through African Heritage Food Co-op’s website at https://myahfc.com. Corporate donors, governmental entities, and large donors can contact AHFC co-founder Alexander Wright by email at alexanderwright716@gmail.com.
