LAFAYETTE PARISH — Now, progress is clear at the future site of Makin’ Groceries, a nonprofit grocery store just off East Pinhook Road in Lafayette.
Led by Second Harvest Food Bank, the store is designed to improve access to affordable, healthy food in a neighborhood classified as a food desert by the U.S. Department of Agriculture — a designation for areas with limited access to fresh groceries.
The store will carry a full range of items, from fresh produce to pantry staples. It will also include a wellness center offering nutrition education, cooking classes, and enrollment assistance for services such as SNAP and Medicaid.
Natasha Curley of Second Harvest said renovations are nearly complete. Until the store opens, the Makin’ Groceries mobile market continues to serve local residents.
One neighbor, Ross Cockrell, said the full storefront can't come soon enough.
“I think the most important thing about having a local grocery store that’s taking care of the community is nutrition,” Cockrell said. “It’s easy, affordable, easy to get to. I think it’s going to be a huge benefit for our older population as well as for our younger kids — realizing that it’s okay to get groceries, take them home, cook with your mawmaw or your pawpaw and learn the healthy way to do it, and also a culturally sensitive way to do it as well.”
The next mobile market is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 5. Second Harvest plans to open the permanent store by the end of the year.
