Together Baton Rouge has been touting for years now about the lack of access to food in what they call “Food Deserts”. A food desert is defined in The Reveille as ”areas defined by poverty and poor access to supermarkets and large grocery stores.”

They have been making such a big fuss that their parent group, the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF – Founded by Saul Alinsky) , bragged about them on their website:

TBR has held events about food deserts and food access and is in cahoots with Mayor Kip Holden to address this problem from a governmental standpoint.

The issue with addressing anything from a governmental standpoint these days is that the solution ends up coming out of taxpayers wallets. Proof being that the Food Access Policy Commission was started with a federal grant.

 

From NOLA.com:

“East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Kip Holden and members of Together Baton Rouge launched a Food Access Policy Commission Thursday in an effort to bring healthy food options to low-income, low-access pockets of the parish that have limited contact with grocery stores, also known as a “food desert.”

The commission, funded in part by a $1 million federal grant, is a joint project between Together Baton Rouge, a local coalition of churches, and Holden’s Healthy City Initiative’s Fresh Beginnings Program.”

 

Take this plan from TBR for example:

Sure, only 1 item on this list actually mentions “state funding” BUT think about all of the others listed. In order to “create”, “prioritize”, and “support” there will have to be money involved. Especially for number 3, “Prioritize food access in all planning & economic development”. If #3 doesn’t come directly out of taxpayers pockets it will affect economic development which directly affects the taxpayers pockets!

Another part of this plan that is not listed in their list of recommendations includes CATS. Together Baton Rouge fought hard for taxpayers in The City of Baton Rouge to support a tax to fund CATS. According to WBRZ another solution proposed was “CATS designed bus routes to get residents to the grocery stores.”

And since we all know by now what a great success CATS is… we know the taxpayers will surely get ripped off again if this were to happen.

The Times-Picayuneshares that “officials announced new initiatives to try to address that grocery gap. They plan to develop an incentive program to attract shops to neighborhoods in need, and expand bus service to help residents easily and directly get to the grocery store. The initiatives are the result of work over the last year and a half by the East Baton Rouge Food Access Policy Commission, a project of the mayor’s office and community group Together Baton Rouge. Together Baton Rouge held a public assembly Friday to announce how the commission recommends addressing the “food desert” problem, and to ask for public officials’ support”

So that is a bit of history! Now back to why Together Baton Rouge has lost its lack of access to food argument.

According to WBRZ  , you can now get “Fresh, healthy groceries delivered to your door”. The companies name is IndiePlate. And they believe “Everybody deserves good food and we at IndiePlate are passionate about bringing you the freshest groceries in Baton Rouge, Prairieville, Denham Springs and Port Allen, all delivered directly from local farms and food crafters to your doorstep. Order $5 worth or $500…there are NO minimums for you to order and deliveries are always $3.95, no matter where you are located!”

From the FAQ page on their website:

 

This to me seems like the perfect solution to the problem TBR has been championing BUT without having to dig EVEN deeper into already abused taxpayer pockets!

If your response to this is “it’s too expensive for them”… I would ask how many of them choose to have a cell phone or cable over the fresh food you deem is so important to them? Just some food for thought. Here are some ways to save while using IndiePlate as well.

From BatonRougeMoms.com :

“Anything you order can be delivered for a flat $3.95 or you can choose to meet at their designated meeting stops and save your $3.95. Personally, they had me at $3.95 and I wanted the full Indieplate experience.”

“Each farm or provider has a bio that tells you a little bit about themselves. That’s something you can’t get in a big chain grocery store. Buying local isn’t always the cheapest option but knowing that you are supporting your local economy and that your groceries are fresh is an amazing feeling. Another way Indieplate is trying to balance the cost difference is by their rewards program. For every dollar spent with them you receive one point. At 500 points you receive $20 credit.”