In this episode of Shoreside, host Nicholas Merino explores the long-standing struggle for food access in Wilmington’s Northside neighborhood—classified by the USDA as a food desert. But as guest Sierra Washington, Executive Director of the Northside Food Co-Op, explains, “desert” doesn’t begin to capture the systemic inequality at play. Instead, she and many others call it “food apartheid”—the result of deliberate disinvestment and structural racism.
Through deeply rooted community organizing, Northside residents are reclaiming their health and dignity by building a grocery store of their own. The Northside Food Co-op isn’t just a retail space—it’s a symbol of economic empowerment and resilience, owned and shaped by the very people it serves. From participatory design and workforce development to the tension between grassroots ownership and institutional funding, this conversation reveals what it truly takes to build community-led infrastructure.
Join us as we trace the co-op’s history—from broken promises of chain store developments to the gathering of neighbors at the Foxes Boxes restaurant—and follow the journey toward the store’s projected 2026 opening at 10th and Post Street.
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