CHECKING IN: Sopchoppy neighbors cope with closure of grocery store one year later

• A large portion of Western Wakulla County has a hard time accessing supermarkets for fresh groceries.
• Neighbors in the Sopchoppy neighborhood have to travel 20 miles to get fresh groceries.
• Watch the video above to see how neighbors are handling the closure of a store that had been open for decades.

U.S. Depto of Agriculture

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:

People here have to travel over 20 miles to get to the closest grocery store. I'm Kenzie Krueger at the the Sopchoppy grocery store that's been closed since last year. Now, I'm talking to neighbors about how they've been getting their groceries

"To have a grocery store come here to Sopchoppy and open back up would be ideal for folks here."

Rick Tolson lives in Sopchoppy. He tells me he drives 20 miles to get to the nearest grocery store. That time and gas to get there and back add up.

"Just do the math your groceries are just even more expensive."

Added expenses on top of the inflation we've been tracking in grocery stores for the last year. It's been about a year since the only grocery store in Sopchoppy closed down. It had been open since the 1940s.

WATCH OUR INITIAL REPORTING ON THE STORE'S CLOSURE:

With those doors now shut, neighbors nearby live in a food desert. The USDA determines a food desert by three factors:

• Low income
• Inability or lack of access to transportation
• Lack of access to fresh food

I checked in with Mayor of Sopchoppy and City Council member, Lara Edwards to see where things stand after since that closure.

"It was a great convenience with fresh produce, meats, and all the needs of a small community, but I have heard nothing of another grocery store coming in to take its place."

She says farmers markets, food shares and neighborhood gardens help with the fresh produce. Finding a place with fresh meats is a challenge.

"We just have the Dollar General, which is now doing fresh produce and vegetables but once again, there's no travel to in Crawfordville to go to the grocery store."

While neighbors like Tolson say it's good to see Dollar General stepping up, a traditional grocery store could benefit this neighborhood in the long run.

"It would be nice to really get fresh vegetables."

The good news for everyone: for the first time since April 2023, CNN reports overall food prices did not rise in a recent inflation report.