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The City of Portland, Oregon

Nick Fish (In Memoriam)

City of Portland Commissioner

phone: 503-823-3589

Email: nick@portlandoregon.gov

1221 S.W. 4th, Room 240, Portland, OR 97204

Street Roots spotlights Village Market

December 21, 2011

Story by Abby Warren

We are proud to see the hard work our partners at Janus Youth are doing to deliver fresh, affordable options to North Portland neighbors highlighted in a recent edition of Street Roots.

Thanks to the opening of Village Market, a non-profit grocery store ran by Janus Youth, the New Columbia neighborhood has "ceased being a food dessert," reports Street Roots writer Amanda Waldroupe.

In her eye-opening article, Waldroupe explains in detail the hardships faced by residents of food desserts, an area defined by the USDA as "a geographic urban or rural area where the nearest full grocery store is more than one mile or a twenty-minute walk away."

The Village Market is an outstandingly innovative program in that it is able to offer "fresh fruits and vegetables, bulk dry foods, dairy and other basic essentials" at affordable prices as it operates as a non-profit.

We were very proud to be part of the team that brought this vision to life, and it's been a privilege to work with this talented, creative organization. The Village Market is a visionary project and a pioneer for other ground-breaking projects here in Portland and elsewhere.

Making Portland's complex food desserts grow green

Amanda Waldroupe in Street Roots