Correction appended.
When residents of McArthur heard a new grocery store was moving into town, it meant more to them than just fresh produce.
For more than three years, about 1,700 people of the small village in Vinton County had to drive nearly 60 miles and more than an hour round trip to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.
In December, the Finance Fund Capital Corporation, which funds nonprofits and community initiatives, announced it would be giving Campbell’s Market, a family food chain with locations in Zanesville and Duncan Falls, more than $1.5 million to build a 12,000-square-foot new store at 636-698 W. Main St. in McArthur — a decision that was lauded by members of the community.
“It’s just great, because it’s been a hardship on everybody,” Vinton County Commissioner Tim Eberts said.
The Vinton County Commissioners spent more than three years trying to convince a food store to move into Vinton County. Eberts said most chains wouldn’t even consider their offer due to Vinton’s low population of about 13,000.
“No one was interested,” Eberts said. “Most places want you to have a population of 30 to 50 thousand in that town.“
Even workers at competing businesses praised the new grocery store. Joye Bobb, a worker at McArthur’s R & C Quick Stop, said the closeness of fresh produce would benefit everyone.
“They’ll sell different things than we do,” Bobb said. “This way, we won’t have to go out of town for a head of lettuce.”
But not all residents of Vinton County will have access to the new grocery store. Some, like Ashley Riegel, who lives near Wilkesville, more than 20 miles along country roads south of McArthur, will still have to drive nearly a half hour for food.
Riegel, who directs McArthur’s St. Francis Outreach Center, a food pantry and clothing center, said residents who live outside of the village are faced with inflated prices at gas stations and dollar stores.
“I either pay $4 in gas to get $2 milk, or get it here for $4,” Riegel said.
Not all residents have the luxury of a car to get food. Riegel said the Outreach Center has mobile units that drive into the county to serve more than 100 Vinton County families in need of food and clothing every week.
She estimated that up to 60 percent of Vinton County residents don’t have cars.
“Most people don’t have reliable transportation at all,” Riegel said.
Without a vehicle and with a distant commute, many residents of Vinton County are living in one of Appalachia’s numerous food deserts.
The Food Empowerment Project, a nonprofit organization that raises awareness about healthy food choices, defines food deserts as “geographic areas where residents’ access to affordable, healthy food options (especially fresh fruits and vegetables) is restricted or nonexistent due to the absence of grocery stores within convenient traveling distance.”
That lack of fresh food leaves residents living in food deserts with little options for shopping. According to an American Nutrition Association article by Mari Gallagher, an expert on food deserts, that can lead to residents only buying cheap junk food.
“While food deserts are often short on whole food providers, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, instead, they are heavy on local quickie marts that provide a wealth of processed, sugar and fat laden foods that are known contributors to our nation’s obesity epidemic,” Gallagher said in the report.
Unhealthy options are abundant in Vinton County, Riegel said. She noted an abundance of pizza places throughout the small county.
Homegrown options like community gardens and sustenance farming can help people sustain their families, according to a previous Post report.
Eberts said he hopes the new store will increase business in McArthur.
"I’m hoping businesses will begin to come back," Eberts said. "If people go out of town, they get into that pattern. I hope they stay right here in McArthur to do their shopping."
Correction: A previous version of this report misspelled Tim Eberts' and Ashley Riegel's names. The article has been updated to reflect the most accurate information.
