There is a vibrant selection of fresh fruits and vegetables when customers walk into The Grocery on Broad in Hartford.
“We wanted them dead center, right in the heart of the store,” Forge City Works Executive Director Ben Dubow said.
The grocery store, operated by the non-profit Forge City Works, aims to provide shoppers affordable access to healthy foods in the Frog Hollow neighborhood, which is described as a food swamp.
“What that means is that there is food available, but it tends to be highly processed, not fresh food and not really affordable,” Dubow said.
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Customers can apply for a discount card using an income-based sliding scale model. The application is one page and savings range from 3%, 25% and 50%, depending on a person’s means.
“The idea is when you check out, you will swipe your card, it will automatically apply the discount. Nobody has to know who is on a discount, who is not, really trying to create a sense of dignity, a sense of choice and really destigmatize the whole process of fighting food insecurity,” he added.
Nearby neighbors are eager to get in the door and save time and money from going to the bigger and further away chain stores.
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“To have a discount all-month long really stretches those food dollars,” Mary Cockram said.
“I don’t have to travel to Walmart where it is always packed and you know, I can just go down the street,” Melissa Miranda said.
The grocery store is funded through Covid relief dollars and in partnership with Connecticut Foodshare.
Dubow said each year the non-profit will have to fundraise an estimated $200,000 to keep the marketplace operating.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held Thursday at 11 a.m.
