Rossville Boulevard has more than a dozen restaurants, convenience and dollar stores and small food outlets along the 2.2 mile-stretch between Interstate 24 and the Georgia line.
But in a neighborhood area included in the 37407 zip code, more than 11,000 residents don't have a full-service grocery store with fresh fruits and vegetables without traveling more than 2.2 miles to one of the Food City outlets in East Ridge, Rossville, Georgia, or the 23rd Street location in Chattanooga.
The grassroots organization known as BLVD working under the nonprofit ELLA Library is seeking to address the food desert in South Chattanooga with the aid of Crabtree Farms and the Chattanooga Area Food Bank through an initiative supported by the federal government.
The Rossville Boulevard redevelopment effort was one of 13 projects selected nationwide to participate with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service, to develop a food system and revitalization strategies.
The groups are uniting together next week for virtual workshops Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to brainstorm ways to stimulate economic growth, increase access to local foods and improve community health in the Rossville Boulevard corridor.
"We want to use this EPA workshop to develop a strategic plan to increase access to local foods," said Heather Herweyer, a resident in the areas for the past decade who serves as executive vice president of BLVD. "For example, maybe we can turn a vacant building into a weekly community market to provide food for residents."
The Chattanooga Area Food Bank provides food to more than 375 families per month with their East Lake mobile pantry and nearly 600 emergency food boxes were delivered to residents from January to July.
Organizers say they are are eager to find ways to involve Crabtree Farms, a non-profit educational urban farm that is located near the Rossville Boulevard at 1000 East 30th Street. Melonie Lusk, executive director for Crabtree Farms, said the workshops next week will be looking for creative ways to engage residents with the urban farm to gain access to farm-fresh foods and to address food instability in the community.
"Through these workshops, we will look at opportunities to leverage the farm as a catalyst for food access, economic development and community building along the corridor," Lusk said.
The Rossville Boulevard corridor dates to 1907 and is a major connector between North George and Chattanooga, but the area has suffered a loss of business and investment over the past half century. Rossville City Councilman Michael Hicks says it's exciting that The BLVD is working to improve the area.
"They are an inspiring bunch and match the city of Rossville's enthusiasm for raising both of our communities up together, united across state lines, to create more opportunity for our citizens and businesses," said Hicks. "I hope this is just the beginning and that we have many more collaborative projects together on the horizon."
The virtual workshop sessions are scheduled from 9 a.m to 1:30 p.m. Sept. 21-23. Persons may register for the brainstorming sessions on the web at theblvdproject.com or by calling 423-493-9155.
Contact Dave Flessner at dfessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340.