Losing small town grocers can mean worst of both worlds

Few of us would give up our rural way of life, but too many of us have the worst of both worlds.

Yes, we live far from large cities and shopping centers, but no, we aren't free from relying on the modern conveniences they provide.

We can go for a long time without buying new clothes or electronics, but food is another issue.

Check with long-time McCook residents and they'll point out a number of small neighborhood grocery stores that used to put basic staples like milk and eggs within walking distance.

Now the town is served by only two full-line grocers -- a family-owned local grocery store and a supercenter, both of which usually require a trip in a car, even for most McCook residents. But we're lucky our town is as large as it is.

Gone are the days when every little town had its own grocery store, as mobile shoppers drive to larger cities with big-box stores offering lower prices and larger inventories.

Small rural grocers don't have the economies of scale that bigger stores have, and they often can't get food distributors to deliver relatively small orders.

The situation is particularly hard for elderly and disabled people who can't drive long distances to big markets.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture calls areas with little access to affordable and nutritious groceries "food deserts."

Thirteen percent of the nation's more than 3,100 counties qualified as food deserts 10 years ago, with most of them in a band of rural areas stretching from Montana to North Dakota and south to West Texas, according to a 2007 study by Lois Wright Morton of Iowa State University, and Troy Blanchard, a Louisiana State University sociology professor.

The federal government is trying to ease the situation with the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, which would spend $400 million a year to bring grocery stores and other healthy food retailers to underserved urban and rural communities in order to eliminate food deserts within seven years.

The northwest Nebraska town of Cody, where the grocery store closed 10 years ago, got a $75,000 federal grant last fall to buy equipment and train high school students to run a grocery store as a nonprofit.

Similar efforts have been tried with mixed success in Southwest Nebraska.

So what is the answer?

For one, take advantage of local, fresh produce provided by market gardens and farmers markets -- McCook's Farmers Market is opening next weekend.

Better yet, if you have the ability, raise your own food. There's nothing like knowing you raised the vegetables in your freezer or pantry yourself.

Technology also offers new opportunities; computers and Internet communication can make organizing a neighborhood food cooperative much easier than it was in the past.

Last but not least, support your local grocer. If you take into account the time and gasoline it takes to travel to a big store, you may not be getting that much of a savings.

Shopping at home when we can helps our communities thrive and continue to be great places to live.