Cole: Walnut Hills residents need access to quality food, too

Councilmember Laketa Cole has offered a motion in support of keeping the Walnut Hills Kroger store open.

Kroger has announced plans to close its store at 954 E McMillan Street unless it can negotiate a more favorable lease with the property's owner.

The company says that the store has been more expensive to operate than similar stores because Kroger leases the building in addition to paying rent on the land.

Cole wants the motion to encourage Kroger and the property owner to work together on a resolution.

"Studies have consistently shown that across the country grocery stores carrying healthy foods and fresh produce are far less prevalent in low-income and minority communities," Cole wrote. "Given this information and the widespread nature of obesity and its adverse health conditions, it becomes obvious why we need to reverse this trend that shows grocery stores fleeing out urban areas."

Cole thinks that the neighborhood's residents deserve better.

"We must draw attention to this devastating trend and the consequences that it holds for families in Walnut Hills," Cole wrote. "Communities like Walnut Hills need access to the same quality of food those other citizens of this City have access to everyday."

Kroger's lease expires in February 2009.

The motion has not come up for a vote in City Council.