East Chattanooga is an area so barren of healthy grocery options that the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department once called it a “food desert.”
Now the only store that sold fresh fruit and vegetables there has closed, leaving residents seeking a new oasis.
Scarbrough’s Produce opened in June, but closed in August. Local businessman J.T. McDaniel, who financed the store operated by Michael Scarbrough, blamed “internal problems” for the shuttering.
Sherita Alexander exits Scarbrough’s Produce on East Third Street in this July 1 photo. The produce store closed in August.“It broke my heart,” McDaniel said. “People were coming food stamps were up and cash was following.”
It was the only store in the area to include walls and shelves lined with produce – watermelon, green beans, squash, okra, cucumbers, peaches and even locally grown peppers. The store also included boxed and canned foods, cereal, milk, eggs and bread.