In West Winston-Salem, grocery runs are simple: fresh produce, meats, and whole grains line the shelves. In East Winston, a single Food Lion on New Walkertown Road is the only full-service supermarket for thousands of residents. Others must rely on Family Dollar and Dollar General, where fresh produce is scarce, and processed foods dominate.
Is East Winston’s money or dollars “green” enough to attract investment? The answer exposes decades of disinvestment, structural inequities, and neighborhood neglect.
Food insecurity in East Winston is not new. Multiple census tracts in the neighborhood are classified as food deserts, where residents must travel significant distances for healthy food (NC Newsline, 2024). Even when a full-service grocery store exists, residents often face long bus rides and strict limits on what they can carry, two grocery-sized bags per passenger, making it nearly impossible to transport enough fresh, healthy food for a family. Discount stores dominate the local retail landscape, providing calories but not nourishment (Family Dollar, 2024; Dollar General, 2024). Research links these conditions to poorer diet quality and higher rates of chronic illness (WFDD Food Resilience Report, 2025)…