An organic grocer in downtown St. Joseph has closed up shop, even as local and state agencies began searching for more healthy food options in St. Joe.
The agencies are hoping a state grant program will help them find a business to offer healthy food options in areas of the city that are so-called “food deserts,” where healthy foods are more than a half mile away.
This news comes on the heels of the closing of one such business in downtown St. Joseph. Json Myers closed Goode Food Delivered a week ago and is offering for lease the space it occupied at 801 Francis.
The business has provided organic produce at the store and by delivery to customers’ homes. Myers is more optimistic about the availability of healthy foodstuffs than he was seven years ago when he took over the business.
“There was no access to any clean local food at all,” Myers said. “Since then, the community has very much grown, the people have some options now in town.”
That includes other organic delivery services that will go straight to your door, to local grocers offering healthy options.
“Downtown is definitely still a desert, but this town is so small that you can easily drive from edge to edge,” Myers said. “We don’t have walkable communities, unfortunately, which definitely would have kept it alive.”
Myers is also an artist. The images associated with this story come from his Facebook page, and are used with permission. He says he will retain ownership of the building on Francis, and will continue operating his art gallery next door. If you’re interested in leasing the space, call Json at (816)522-7200.
“Just from writing in shoe polish on the window there’s been a lot of interest,” Myers said. “There’s a lot of natural light, with tin ceilings and wood floors. It’s just a gorgeous space.”
This week the City of St. Joseph Health Dept. and the University of Missouri Extension began a public effort to find an area business to help bring healthy food to food deserts in St. Joseph.