American stand-up comedian and actress, Tiffany Haddish, is on a quest to raise 25M to address the food desert and make a difference in the lives of the people in her community.
According to The Washington Post, Haddish plans to build ‘Diaspora Groceries‘ – named after ethnic or racial groups who immigrated to the US from other countries; which will be situated in the Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.
To serve the BIPOC community, the actress has been raising money for the inexpensive store for years, with a target of $25 million.
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In an interview with The Grio, the famous actress said, “I have noticed in my community that they’ve shut down many grocery stores, which to me is like, ‘Well, are you trying to starve us out?’ And then those grocery stores didn’t necessarily have good food in there for us anyway. So I want to open up a grocery store.”
Aside from the provision of high-quality sustainably sourced food, Diaspora Groceries will also teach customers how to cook and manage their finances wisely.
According to Haddish, “There will be specialty things, a normal market, and a nonprofit-like educational component, where people can take cooking classes and a financial literacy class.”
The Girl’s Trip actress’ vision follows her experience while living in poverty and dealing with food insecurity back in 2021, when she revealed she previously had to make do on $500 a month in order to purchase a home.
“Food insecurity is a real thing for me,” Haddish told Essence, “something I’ve experienced the majority of my existence. I would say the last five years have been more like, ‘This is what I’m going to eat.’”
Now aware of the connection between a healthy diet and lifestyle, and the idea that “food is medicine,” she is working to improve access in South Los Angeles.
“I’m a firm believer that once you understand how money works, once you understand how food works, you become a healthier, happier human being,” she said.
The famous comedian asserts that everyone in the neighborhood benefits when people and their families are healthier and happier. She intends to use food and money to combat systemic racism, because that is where she believes it originates.
The official grand launch of ‘Diaspora Groceries’ has not yet received any additional information. On the other hand, the store’s website states that it is presently accepting applications from BIPOC entrepreneurs who want to sell their goods there because it “aims to build authentic and lasting partnerships” with them.
