This is how you meet a need!
Houston Chef Jonny Rhodes decided to turn his restaurant into a grocery store to combat food shortages that are happening as a result of the pandemic, Black Enterprise reports.
Rhodes is the owner of Indigo, a popular soul food restaurant in Houston, Texas. While most states are allowing restaurants to stay open for take-out and delivery only, Rhodes thought his spot could be of better use and made the decision to convert it into a grocery store to give low-income families better access to quality food.
Broham’s Fine Soul Food & Groceries opened this past week and Rhodes said it was always in the plans. “It is times and moments like these in which we referenced from our inception. This project wasn’t due to launch until the fall, but our people need us NOW. As many have formed opinions on our current state as a nation, nothing has changed then or now about our position regarding food apartheid and food inequality in the nation…[Broham’s Groceries is] our first combat outpost in the fight against food injustice in Black/brown communities,” Rhodes said in a social media post.
The new grocery store will service the community’s needs while also allowing the Texas chef to keep his employees on staff. Rhodes said not only is there a food shortage, there’s a food desert in his particular community because there are hardly any grocery stores at all, which is not uncommon in many under resourced neighborhoods across America.
“You think about this epidemic that’s going on, one of the things you see is grocery stores can’t keep things on the shelves. Over here, there are no shelves to be empty, because there are no grocery stores. Instead of there being empty shelves, there’s empty bellies. Since this has taken place, a lot of them [people] are surviving on chips, soda, candy. That’s only going to make what’s going on right now worse. Now, you don’t have the immune system to fight it off, because we’re poisoning ourselves. We just want to be able to provide [an alternative],” Rhodes said.
Rhodes isn’t sure when his restaurant will reopen, but for now he’s just focused on doing his part. Broham’s Groceries sells food that is locally sourced and is located at 517 Berry Rd. Houston, Texas. They’re open Monday through Friday from 9am to 7pm CST.
To learn more about Broham’s Fine Soul Food & Groceries, visit www.htxindigo.com.
Thank you for all you’re doing Jonny!
Photo Courtesy of Solomon Sixteenth/ChristopherAnderson/Houston Eater