TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa city leaders are establishing more food options in the Phoenix District to change it from a food desert to a food destination. The Phoenix Development Council is working to make the 36th Street north corridor a culinary hotspot.
City leaders are wor king with local entrepreneurs to create sustainable, permanent dining options along 36th Street North. They are looking at the possibilities to turn the vacant lot across from the 36th Street North Event Center into a vibrant hub.
Renderings of concepts show spaces for the community to gather and entertainers to perform on stage.
Before renderings become reality, it all starts from the ground up at the Tulsa Farm Lab, located near MLK Jr. Boulevard and 41st Street North.
“We are here just to make sure that there’s real good food available in a food desert,” said Katie Plohocky, Executive Director of RG Foods. “We’re really excited about the 36 North project because we’re also involved with putting a farm across the street in phase two, and we envision being able to grow food on site and it will also have a commercial kitchen, bring it into the kitchen, have our youth package it up and get it to the store in the same day.”
Tulsa Farm L ab provides fresh food to the Grocery Box, a micro-grocery store at the Tulsa Dream Center.
“It excites me because now that I’m at The Grocery Box. There’s a lot of kids that are always going over there. They’re like, ‘We can get this at a very cheap price,’ as well as sometimes, they’ll get fruits, and it just excites me since they have more access to those things,” said Ari Aburto, Manager of The Grocery Box.
The Grocery Box’s second location i s being built inside of the Phoenix at 36N apartments.
“I definitely like being able to know that I’m helping people and still have that be in the back of my mind, essentially because I know that what I’m doing is going to help someone out there someday,” said Christian Sanders of Tulsa Fram Lab’s Fresh Food Academy.
Many hands are at work to bring fresh, healthy, affordable and accessible foods to people in the Phoenix District so that eventually, what was once known as a food desert will be a food haven…