Oasis springs up in North Central food desert
Some in North Central find oasis in food desert
Before anyone even thought about social distancing, hoarding or COVID -19, Raymond Lagimodiere had a tough time getting the groceries needed for his family of six.
The single, widowed father lives in Regina’s North Central neighbourhood, far from any of the city’s supermarkets.
In the heart of what many have dubbed a food desert, the inner-city community has been without a grocery store for decades, since the Superstore on Albert Street closed almost 20 years ago, shifting from the downtown to the suburbs. A specialty Asian market, three convenience stores and a few gas stations operate in the neighbourhood but that doesn’t offer a suitable alternative for the 10,000 people who live here.
Even the Regina Food Bank, once located in the centre of the downtown at Albert Street and Saskatchewan Drive, is across town in the city’s north end.
Because of the pandemic, Lagimodiere, like many of his neighbours, now also has to contend with the restricted hours of grocery stores, lineups and shortages — all while weighing the risks he himself faces.
“I got diagnosed with fibrosis six months ago but I’ve had it for about five years,” he said.
It’s hard for him to be outdoors. Indeed, it’s difficult to live in the midst of a pandemic that affects lung capacity and breathing in particular.
But ironically, it took the pandemic for North Central’s food desert to include an oasis.
“The program — I mean, it’s a godsend,” Lagimodiere said. “That’s the best way I can describe it.”
He’s among those taking advantage of the food hampers prepared by the North Central Family Centre.
Since COVID -19 arrived in Regina, the neighbourhood is a bit quieter during the day. Even during the winter it’s commonplace to see people out walking around, speaking with neighbours and generally being out in the community.
It’s part of why Sandy Wankel, co-founder and executive director of the North Central Family Centre, loves the neighbourhood and calls it home.
But the centre’s doors to the public have been closed since mid-march. Activities either have been cancelled or, when possible, moved online. The usually bustling drop-in centre is silent. The NCFC offered meals prior to the pandemic and childcare for North Central residents.
Although their doors closed, the need for services persisted, so Wankel and the centre’s limited staff started to send out 150 food hampers a week to families in need, like Lagimodiere’s.
“Our families — so many face considerable stress and mental-health issues at normal times, that with this pandemic, I mean, it’s unprecedented,” she said.
Food security has long been an issue in the community.
“Transportation is always an issue since so many of our families walk or take the bus. So with a large family it’s tough to get that many groceries,” Wankel said.
For those without cars, a bus ride to the No Frills or a Safeway can be an hours-long commute.
“Many of our families are constantly in survival mode.”
She said having the convenience stores in the community is appreciated, but little in the way of healthy and nutritious food is on offer. Even if fresh fruits and vegetables were available, the cost might prohibit families from buying the produce.
“Unless you have a grocery store, and a decent-priced grocery store, it’s a barrier.”
Murray Giesbrecht, executive director of the North Central Community Association, said for those in the community with a car or the ability to take public transport, getting groceries means heading to the Cathedral, Rosemont or Coronation Park neighbourhoods.
“It’s a bit of a jaunt,” he said. And once at the store, there’s no guarantee that essentials will be stocked.
Transportation is always an issue since so many of our families walk or take the bus. So with a large family it’s tough to get that many groceries.” Sandy Wankel, executive director of the North Central Family Centre.
Giesbrecht has seen it himself. “The shelves were bare,” he said, recounting his visit to a store soon after pandemic restrictions took effect.
“I experienced one young lady having a near-meltdown, asking, ‘What the hell am I going to do? There’s nowhere I can go.’”
For a neighbourhood in the grips of poverty, the convenience stores can act as a double-edged sword. Meals are available — but largely in the form of prepackaged frozen and processed foods.
“If you go into 7-Eleven and buy a prepackaged dinner or something like that, you’re paying substantially more than a grocery store,” Giesbrecht said.
Soda and chips don’t fill the omnipresent need for healthy food, but Giesbrecht believes the approach to fixing this has to include wraparound services that educate and help.
“We almost need like, home economics,” he said. “Shopping effectively, how to make food — especially if you’re cooking at home — how to make for a large number of people.”
Giesbrecht said, simply put, some families in the community go without food. For students, food insecurity can translate into an inability to focus, retain lessons and can affect future education prospects.
“It’s a foundational thing. If that’s missing, it can be very problematic. With cyclical poverty or generational poverty it becomes this continual issue,” he said.
“With so many people going through that, it begins to chip away at the foundation of the community.”
It makes school and work difficult when basic needs aren’t met.
By Giesbrecht’s estimate, 50 per cent of the community struggles to meet their food needs. In a neighbourhood just shy of 10,000 people, it’s an issue that he says can’t be ignored.
“The concern is there for adults, but certainly for the next generations, too, that we want to help move forward, help move out of poverty,” he said. “Those are very real challenges.”
In stark contrast to the lack of grocery stores is the abundance of fast food joints. Driving down Dewdney Avenue you’ll see Dominos Pizza, Burger King, KFC and Mcdonalds. Ordering off the dollar menu is easier and cheaper for many.
Food insecurity — and health problems such as diabetes, brought about by a diet of processed and high sugar and/or high fat foods — often contribute to mission statements for community organizations in the neighbourhood, trying to get healthy food for the many that need it in North Central.
“It’s just that much more difficult now for a community that already faces so many barriers, socio-economic barriers,” Wankel said. “It’s just one more added thing.”
Wankel and her team try to lighten that burden.
The hampers all are prearranged through the centre for either pickup or delivery. Wankel said the basic needs are met: Bread, milk, and canned vegetables. For the Easter weekend, a few treats were thrown in for kids.
“We always try to get the staples down so people can make good healthy meals,” Wankel said.
That means ingredients for soup, meat, cereal, and, when possible, produce all go in the hampers.
Donations come from the food bank, corporations, other non-profits, restaurants and coffee shops. The City of Regina and REACH also are doing weekly programs at the mâmawêyatitân centre, offering food to families in need.
Having moved to Regina in 1979, Lagimodiere has called North Central home for the majority of his life. For him and his six children, the hampers are a welcome respite from a food insecurity struggle that’s been compounded by the pandemic.
“They eat lots, so it’s been really helpful,” he said.
“I’ve been struggling with this, so it makes a difference when groceries are brought to my home.”
Speaking over the phone, Lagimodiere was at times close to being breathless. He said his days ebb and flow between not good and worse.
Lagimodiere has run up against shortages for his inhalers, and has had to brave the hospital to find medicine.
On leaving his home he said, “I have to do this for my children, but there’s a lot of nerves involved.
“I just hope I don’t run into anything. I’m nervous but I try not to leave the vehicle much.”
At the moment being in public, shopping and being around strangers can be a nerve-racking experience. Thankfully some people are ardent in their attempts at social distancing
Even with the doors closed at the NCFC, Wankel still heads into the office. The courtyard in front of the 5th Avenue locations often has donations, made anonymously before staff arrive.
“Recognize the vulnerable in society. Watch over them and make sure we take care of each other,” Wankel said.
Despite the pulling together and the myriad heartening examples of people helping their neighbours, Wankel says the community still needs help.
Like everyone, she’s searching for an end date for the measures brought in and a date when things can return to normal.
Until then, good graces and donations are required to keep operating.
The 150 hampers delivered a week has stretched the NCFC to its limit.
“We still need help. We really do,” she said. “We don’t know how long this is going to go on.”
It’s a foundational thing. If (basic food is) missing, it can be very problematic. With cyclical poverty or generational poverty it becomes this continual issue.