The Grocery Box Aims To Provide Access To Fresh Food In Tulsa

Trees will be cleared on the grounds of the Tulsa Dream Center Monday evening to make way for a new kind of supermarket.

The non-profit RG Foods calls the Grocery Box a “micro grocery concept” that will provide affordable access to fresh produce in areas where people have to travel longer distances to get their food, often without reliable transportation. 

“We really want to create systemic change, so we don’t want to own these stores,” said RG Foods Executive Director and co-founder, Katie Plohocky. “We’re actually building a franchise for people in the community to own their own neighborhood grocery stores .”

The first Grocery Box broke ground on Monday morning and Plohocky said after years of breaking down barriers, she expects it to open within a few months.

“We also have a food hub which is the biggest barrier to small grocery stores,” Plohocky said. “They require a $25,000 minimum purchase every week so most small business owners can’t access the wholesale distribution system.”

That was the biggest barrier RG Foods had to overcome, but they are used to solving problems every day.

“We actually took all the shovels from our farm, and we spray-painted them gold this morning,” said Plohocky, laughing about the shovels for the groundbreaking that they set up.

Hennesey Morman, a 19-year-old intern with RG Foods, grew up in North Tulsa.

“Pretty much my whole life I grew up on fast food and all different types of stuff and then when I came to work here, I actually started eating healthier,” she said. “And I try to be convincing my mom to eat healthier too, she’ll be like it’s a battle you know.”

A battle that Morman hopes might be made easier with the addition of the Grocery Box.

“If I don’t start now, then who’s gonna’ start?” Morman said. “You need a generational leader.”