The Hoskins neighborhood - like many parts of Charlotte’s West Side and other Black neighborhoods - is now considered a food desert, lacking immediate access to fresh and affordable food options. Even the egg-processing plant is gone, its old lot left vacant for years. Then the larger supermarket chains left, too.įast forward to today, and the Thomasboro-Hoskins community has few if any options for fresh food and produce. Local grocers struggled to keep up and shut down. It started in the ’80s, when larger supermarket chains arrived in the neighborhood, bringing new competition. And with those changes came a sharp decline in healthy food options for local residents. But the community has changed since then, Peake said as he stood in the Mr. "This was like 'Happy Days,'" Peake, now 53, recalled last week in an interview with Courthouse News. It was a thriving community with everything it needed in one place. Trucks lined up at the egg factory, highlighting the link between Peake's home neighborhood and the region's farms and food sources. There was another grocer up on Bradford Road. John's Grocery Store was just up the road from Mr. Growing up, Peake didn't have to worry about access to fresh food. He spent his earnings on arcade games and food at the store. Quick, Peake cleaned the parking lot every day until it was spotless. Working in the shadow of a bustling egg-processing facility behind Mr. Quick store on South Hoskins Road in the Thomasboro-Hoskins neighborhood. (CN) - Chris Peake remembers growing up in West Charlotte in the 1970s.
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