Grocery store eliminates food desert in Reading neighborhood

• Aniya Faulcon
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  Aniya Faulcon is The Spark Host/Producer for WITF. She has a passion for shining a light on unique people, experiences, and perspectives within the community.
  
  Previously she worked as the People and Social Trends Reporter/Video Anchor for LancasterOnline | LNPNews. During her time there, she created video packages, provided Facebook Live coverage at community events, and wrote data-driven stories with census data and feature stories on local leaders, non-profit organizations, events, and people with unique talents and experiences within Lancaster County.
  
  Aniya also worked at WMAR ABC 2 News as a Sales Assistant and at the AFRO American Newspapers as an Executive Assistant and Media correspondent. Aniya interned at WEAA Gospel Grace 88.9 and worked at her alma mater’s radio station, WWPJ at Point Park University, where she gained skills and a passion for radio.
  
  Aniya grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and attended the Baltimore School for the arts for high school with a concentration in acting. She continued to hone her skills and passion for storytelling and later graduated from Point Park University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting and Broadcast Reporting. Aniya is eager to continue her journey with storytelling in her role with WITF, as she aims to shed a light on real people and real stories within Pennsylvania in a variety of mediums.

 LM Otero / AP Photo

In this April 29, 2020 file photo, a shopper wears a mask as she looks over meat products at a grocery store in Dallas.

Airdate: August 11, 2022

Ideal Food Basket, a fresh produce grocery store, opened last Tuesday, and with the long-anticipated snipping of their red ribbon a neighborhood food desert in Reading was eliminated.

The family-owned grocery store provided the first 100 shoppers with a complimentary grab bag stuffed with free groceries and a $10 coupon for their next visit.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, 10 percent of the approximately 65,000 census tracts in the United States are food deserts; about 13.5 million people within those areas have low access to sources of food.

Jeffery Diaz, Co-owner of Ideal Food Basket, said it took two years for their store to open due to a delay in receiving store items. However, when they opened and gave 100 shoppers free groceries and a $10 coupon for their next visit, the shoppers who had been living in a food drought were thrilled.

“It was a way for us to show the community that we’re looking out for them,” said Diaz. “…There were some that didn’t even know we were offering, but they were extremely happy, and they anticipate coming back to the store.”

Diaz also said they have another Ideal Food Basket location in Lebanon but they hope to open more stores in other food deserts within the state.

He said they plan to have their official grand opening in October.