# African-American neighborhood does not want a Trader Joe's **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 5, 2014, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-neighborhood-does-not-want-a-trader-joes/680538 "2014-02-05T00:55:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-neighborhood-does-not-want-a-trader-joes/680538/141 "2014-02-09T00:08:53Z")
I’d turn down Trader Joe’s if my neighborhood lacked a good grocery with affordable produce, meat, and staples. I need those things before I need the oreo mint brittle and good cheap wine. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-neighborhood-does-not-want-a-trader-joes/680538/142 "2014-02-09T01:47:08Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > The whole thing reminds me of a joke I heard on TV many years ago. All in the Family, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx? > > Two black guys are standing in front of their houses in a poor, exclusively black neighborhood. They see a white family moving in down the block. One says to the other, “Uh, oh. Here comes the neighborhood”. > > I’d never even heard of the term ‘gentrification’ at the time (I was around 14) a and I don’t know if this was a reference to that or merely a play on the white flight that was going on at the time. In any case, I found it funny then and funny/poignant now. It’s an early Chris Rock joke. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-neighborhood-does-not-want-a-trader-joes/680538/143 "2014-02-09T01:49:47Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > I’ve heard a lot of complaining in recent years that poor communities don’t have access to healthy food stores that are affordable. > > Trader Joe’s fits the bill perfectly, and they said no!?? Please read the thread (including the letter from the protesting organization and a couple of follow-up news articles). The never protested Trader Joe’s coming to the neighborhood. That was the way the news media reported it. They protested what they perceived to be a multi-million dollar government hand-out to a national corporation that did not provide for accommodations and improvements that would directly assist the community. They may be utterly wrong in their objections and logic, but they were not objecting to Trader Joe’s. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-neighborhood-does-not-want-a-trader-joes/680538/144 "2014-02-09T03:12:40Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Please read the thread (including the letter from the protesting organization and a couple of follow-up news articles). > > The never protested Trader Joe’s coming to the neighborhood. That was the way the news media reported it. They protested what they perceived to be a multi-million dollar government hand-out to a national corporation that did not provide for accommodations and improvements that would directly assist the community. > They may be utterly wrong in their objections and logic, but they were not objecting to Trader Joe’s. But it would directly assist the community by providing healthy foods at affordable prices…addressing a frequent complaint among low-income communities… Disagreements don’t need to involve questioning my reading comprehension. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-neighborhood-does-not-want-a-trader-joes/680538/145 "2014-02-09T03:15:53Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > But it would directly assist the community by providing healthy foods at affordable prices…addressing a frequent complaint among low-income communities… > > Disagreements don’t need to involve questioning my reading comprehension. Since your concerns have been addressed more than once in this thread, it _does_ make one wonder if you want answers, or just want to press a point. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-neighborhood-does-not-want-a-trader-joes/680538/146 "2014-02-11T22:21:58Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > But it would directly assist the community by providing healthy foods at affordable prices…addressing a frequent complaint among low-income communities… > > Disagreements don’t need to involve questioning my reading comprehension. See post #120 item 7. That is, of course, Sleestak’s interpretation of the letter but other posters have mentioned there are other grocery stores close by. And just to throw it out there, there is some new research that seems to indicate that gentrification doesn’t always have to hurt residents ([link](http://www.npr.org/2014/01/22/264528139/long-a-dirty-word-gentrification-may-be-losing-its-stigma)). Getting at the food desert issue a bit more, there’s also recent research showing that slapping up a shiny new grocery store in a food desert area [doesn’t necessarily result in healthier eating habits](http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/02/10/273046077/takes-more-than-a-produce-aisle-to-refresh-a-food-desert) or even shift shopping habits all that much. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-neighborhood-does-not-want-a-trader-joes/680538/147 "2014-02-12T02:20:58Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Since your concerns have been addressed more than once in this thread, it _does_ make one wonder if you want answers, or just want to press a point. Fair enough, you can lead a horse to water… ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-neighborhood-does-not-want-a-trader-joes/680538/148 "2014-02-13T20:01:21Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > I’d turn down Trader Joe’s if my neighborhood lacked a good grocery with affordable produce, meat, and staples. I need those things before I need the oreo mint brittle and good cheap wine. It’s been pointed out already that there’s a Safeway a half mile away, but in any case, for me… Trader Joe’s **is** a good grocery with affordable produce and staples (I don’t eat a lot of meat so I don’t know the prices as well, but the frozen chicken packs are very competitively priced as well). Our local grocery chains, Hy-Vee and Dahl’s, are notoriously expensive, especially for produce. I tend to shop between Aldi and Trader Joe’s for most foodstuffs, for a good balance of quality/healthiness and price. When TJs came to town, I started saving money. Sure, if you want 25 cent boxed mac and cheese ‘product’, maybe TJs isn’t for you, but for healthy food it really is among the cheaper options – at least in my area. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-neighborhood-does-not-want-a-trader-joes/680538/149 "2014-02-13T21:05:07Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > It’s been pointed out already that there’s a Safeway a half mile away, but in any case, for me… Trader Joe’s **is** a good grocery with affordable produce and staples (I don’t eat a lot of meat so I don’t know the prices as well, but the frozen chicken packs are very competitively priced as well). Our local grocery chains, Hy-Vee and Dahl’s, are notoriously expensive, especially for produce. I tend to shop between Aldi and Trader Joe’s for most foodstuffs, for a good balance of quality/healthiness and price. When TJs came to town, I started saving money. > > Sure, if you want 25 cent boxed mac and cheese ‘product’, maybe TJs isn’t for you, but for healthy food it really is among the cheaper options – at least in my area. In my experience, TJs is great when you are single or have a 2 person household. The portions are relatively small, cutting down on food waste, and that can be pretty economical. A lot of their food is on the mostly-healthy-pre-prepared side, which is awesome for someone who is on the go a lot and needs quick and a few quick and easy meals to fill in the spaces in the week. But it’s not a good bet for a family who cooks economically. Poor families tend to do a lot of stuff along the lines of “put a big cheap roast in the slow cooker and use it over a few days” or “make a big vat of soup” and TJs sucks for that. I love TJs, and it used to be my primary grocery store, but that was when I was in college. With lots of family members and especially with potentially picky kids, it’s not such a good fit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-neighborhood-does-not-want-a-trader-joes/680538.md?page=7)