CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte City Council voted Monday to give $1.5 million to help build the Three Sisters Market on West Boulevard.
The full-service store next to the Three Sisters urban farm would hopefully help reduce food insecurity in the historically underserved area.
"When you look at where people have the opportunity to shop on this corridor you look at the dollar stores and convenience stores, and the products don’t align with long term improvement of social determinants of health," Ricky Hall told WCNC Charlotte last week.
Hall is the board chair of the West Boulevard Neighborhood Coalition and a member of the board that will oversee the future food market.
The Three Sisters urban farm was created in 2015 – providing an oasis of healthy produce in the middle of a food desert. Community leaders explained local youth work at the farm through the Seeds for Change program to learn how to grow their own food. The children then sell the produce on site during farmers market hours.
According to Mecklenburg County data, countywide, about 30% of households are within a half mile from a grocery store. However, in the West Boulevard corridor, there are zero households within a half mile of a grocery store.
"We haven’t had a grocery store since 1993, this is the third attempt to get a market," Hall said.
Mecklenburg County is committing $3 million to the project. The total cost is estimated to be $10 million.
Leaders say the goal is to break ground in the first quarter of 2024 and have doors open about a year after that.
Starting Sept. 14, the Three Sisters farmers market hours are every Thursday and Friday from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m..