For North Baton Rouge residents, fresh food is far less accessible than fast food.
About 14% of East Baton Rouge Parish residents faced food insecurity in 2021, according to a study from HealthyBR. The federal government defines food insecurity as living more than a mile from a large grocery store.
For Southern University students like Neisha Pascal, a sophomore majoring in plant and soil science, securing healthy food is almost impossible due to a lack of reliable transportation or budget concerns.
“If transportation were better, people would probably choose healthier options, but there’s just a lack of access,” Pascal said. “There is a new market opening nearby, though, and I’m excited about that. It’ll make things easier, even for people without cars.”
Pascal is referring to the Harvest Fresh grocery store at The BLVD at Harding, the result of partnership between Associated Grocers, local and state leaders and developers. The project will mark the first grocery store in the area in nearly 15 years.
Harvest Fresh, which is planning to open in fall 2027, will encompass more than 43,600 square feet of total supermarket space, along with health and wellness services and other retailers.
“This is very much a long time coming,” said Carmen Austin, assistant real estate broker for The BLVD at Harding. “This is an area that is definitely underserved, that I think can sustain something like this dramatically.”
Located on the corner of Harding Boulevard and Howell Place, the $50 million retail and grocery development is highly accessible to public transportation, even including walking paths and proximity to well-established neighborhoods.
Austin said she hopes Harvest Fresh will help transform the community in the busy area, pointing to the Rouses supermarket that opened at Florida Boulevard and North Ardenwood Drive two years ago as a model to address food insecurity.
Edgar Cage worked to eliminate food deserts in the city for years as a leader of Together Baton Rouge, gathering data, building community support and presenting findings to the city.
“We actually got about $380,000 in incentives from the city to help with startup costs,” he said. “Grocery margins are very tight — under 2% — so early years are tough, but we couldn’t find any takers,” Cage said. “One grocery executive told me I was crazy — said no one would open in North Baton Rouge because of crime and perception.”
For those living near Southern or in the Scotlandville area, a routine grocery run is limited to either small corner stores or the local Family Dollar, where frozen and canned fruits and vegetables sell for $2 to $3 per item, but there is nothing perishable or locally grown.
Cage said he took a reporter on a tour of small stores in North Baton Rouge years ago. She was appalled that fresh food options were limited and overpriced. He said most of the options were beer and junk foods, but that was not the worst of it.
“We once found a store selling expired food — six or seven months old,” Cage said. “The manager said, ‘These people ought to be happy they have this.’ That mindset — it’s wrong.”
Jared Barbarin, a psychology major at Southern, said he struggles with budgeting on account of having to pay rent, and contemplates whether to sacrifice nutrition over cost.
“If I buy cheaper, lower-quality food, I can get a lot more of it, and it can last weeks or even a month,” Barbarin said. “If I buy higher-quality food, it costs more and doesn’t last as long, so I have to budget carefully.”
Since he resides in an apartment on Southern’s campus, Barbarin buys groceries at the nearby Family Dollar, or drives about seven miles to the Walmart in Baker. If he wants alternative food choices, he has to drive about 10 miles away to the Rouses on Florida.
A Together Baton Rouge survey found North Baton Rouge residents are already traveling significant distances for groceries. The majority reported shopping at stores like Walmart in Baker or Central, as well as supermarkets outside their immediate area.
When asked what delayed the construction of a grocery market in the North Baton Rouge area, Baker Mayor Darnell Waites explained that it has to do with factors shaped by public opinion and juggling priorities.
“It has a lot to do with economic development, housing and schools,” Waites said. “Environment matters, and leadership matters. Funding doesn’t always come this way, and people don’t always look this way,” he said.
While many businesses often frame North Baton Rouge as unprofitable or too dangerous to invest in, Waites and Tony King, a podcaster and former radio host, see it as an untapped market with boundless potential.
“Our (Baker) situation is slightly different, but we still share similar economic challenges with surrounding communities,” King said. “That’s why partnerships matter.”
Additional reporting by Katharine Sherrett.
This story was reported and written by students with the support of the nonprofit Louisiana Collegiate News Collaborative, an Ĵý-led coalition of eight universities funded by the Henry Luce and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur foundations.