In the race for Indianapolis mayor, ‘food apartheid’ emerges as an issue

William G. Rutledge has lived on a quiet cul-de-sac around the corner from a Walmart Neighborhood Market with his wife and kids for three years.

The smaller, more grocery-geared version of the big box retailer, he said, is a nice place to stop off for the basics or for a quick dinner on Rutledge's way home from his job as a security officer.

But after the far eastside grocer closes July 12, he'll have to travel upwards of six miles to the nearest store for his groceries.

"Now I'm going to have to go all the way out to Washington Street just to get simple groceries," he said. "There was a Kroger right over here that closed when we moved in here, and there was an Aldi down the street that closed shortly after we moved here, so it was the only grocery store here."

Rutledge and his family — and his neighbors — will soon live in a food desert.

"It's definitely dry," he said.

Cleo's opens:Flanner House opening bodega to address 'food apartheid' in northwest neighborhood

Housing issues:Jim Merritt calls Hogsett's blighted housing plan 'fraud,' details plan of his own

Mayoral candidate Jim Merritt used the soon-to-be-shuttered Walmart location Thursday as a backdrop to announce moves he'd make if elected to solve the lack of fresh food options in some Indianapolis' neighborhoods.

"Food apartheid is a relentless social construct that devalues human beings and assumes that people are unworthy of having access to nutritious food," Merritt said in the press conference, located in an entrance road near the store located at 8010 E 38th St, off Walmart property at the store's request. "Food apartheid affects people of all races, although black and brown people are affected disproportionately."

The phrase food apartheid is being increasingly used in place of food desert as a way to emphasize the underlying racism in determining where grocery stores are opened and sustained.  

Merritt said he wrote a letter to Walmart, encouraging it to donate the property after the store closes so it can used by the community. He outlined four measures he hoped to work toward if elected:

1. Increasing the number of bodegas in town by up to 30;
2. Bringing the Food Rescue educational program to avoid food waste to every charter school in Marion County, and work with IPS on it;
3. Growing Kimbal Musk's Big Green program in Indianapolis that works with students to teach gardening and nutrition and;
4. Merritt plans to host a summit with stakeholders to address these issues.

"Food apartheid is at one of the roots of crime in our community," he said. "You can have all the police officers in the world, but if people are hungry, we're still going to have problems in our community."

Merritt acknowledged he wasn't certain of the cost but said that funding could come from special taxing districts. 

"I believe tax increment financing could play a role here," Merritt said. "We have tax increment financing for a lot of different programs and stadiums. Why not a TIF to create incentives for people to come into the community and help us grow the bodegas from three to 30 in Indianapolis?”

A few hours after Merritt's announcement and about 13 miles west, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and City-County Council President Vop Osili were celebrating the grand opening of a bodega not unlike what Merritt is proposing: Cleo's Bodega, as part of Flanner House on the northwest side.

"Access to nutritious food cannot be a luxury in this city," Hogsett said before a ribbon cutting of the affordable grocer and cafe. The area was previously the largest food desert in the city.

The store, named for former Flanner House Executive Director Cleo Blackburn, was funded through a $400,000 Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant and took more than two years to complete.

The bodega will employ people from surrounding neighborhoods, and provide vegetables, fruit, pre-packaged salads, smoothies and coffee, as well as a meeting place, cafe area and food from its own gardens.

"That is the kind of power a place like Cleo's can have in this neighborhood," Hogsett said. 

Cleo's fell in line with Hogsett's pitch to the city during his state of the city address last month to help solve the problem of food insecurity, which, like Merritt's plan, included four talking points:

1. Investment and development in an app that would help community members find food pantries and offer other resources for food-scarce areas;
2. Magnifying the efforts of "champions" in neighborhoods who can address food insecurity issues and offering training and resources to locate grocery options;
3. Further investment in the city's Lyft Project, which connects the rideshare company to those in food deserts to offer subsidized rides to stores, and
4. Create a mobile grocery store that accepts food assistance programs and travels to neighborhoods without brick-and-mortar grocery stores.

The City-County Council approved Hogsett's proposal to spend $780,000 for these programs in early June.

As Walmart announced its far eastside store closure, the city added two grocery stores to the Lyft Project to serve the 500 families in that area, bringing the total to four stores in program.

Call IndyStar reporter Amy Bartner at 317-444-6752. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.