So Who & What is Aisle 5ive Exactly?
The Who!
Aisle 5ive is a small business, family & community styled grocery store which provides fresh fruits, vegetables and other essential grocery products to it's local community. Aisle 5ive's mission is to help eradicate the food deserts plaguing the city of Dallas, with the Oak Cliff community being the area of focus. Our plan is to create a store front to bring fresh produce & essential household groceries to the Oak Cliff community. This will allow us to help uplift & empower that community by providing healthy lifestyle choices by giving these customers access to fresh produce & essential groceries. Not only is Aisle 5ive a community grocery store but also a movement which promotes a loving environment to help fuel educational endeavors, create career opportunities and a community forum where anyone can feel safe & empowered.
We’re Aisle 5ive the Grocery Movement.
To Infinity & Beyond!
In the next 10 years, we see ourselves as a thriving community grocery store and delivery service. Creating opportunities to help further education while taking an activist stand within our community is our goal. All while offering customers the power of choice, by providing freshly grown produce, organic produce, veganic produce and other natural products.
But Why Dallas?
We chose Dallas, Texas, as it unfortunately is home to some of the largest food deserts in the nation. In 2018 the Department of Agriculture identified 88 separate food deserts in Dallas County alone. Over half of them were in three southern portions of Dallas. In these areas, the best option for food is often a convenience or dollar store, which are both more expensive and less nutritious than traditional grocery stores and supermarkets. This is one of the many reasons we have chosen to serve the Oak Cliff area (District 3) a city-service-area (CSA) in the Southern-Sector of Dallas.
Almost 20% of the Dallas County population faces food insecurity and lacks the needed fruits and vegetables in their diet (quality and quantity). In 2012, the Texas State Comptroller estimated $11.1 billion annually in healthcare costs and productivity loss due to illness that are caused or worsened by poor nutrition. Food deserts have become more prevalent in city/urban & rural communities, contributing to the worsening of their health problems, such as diabetes and obesity (Treuhaft and Karpyn 2010). In the analysis of food insufficiency data in by the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, investigators found the absence of healthy food options provided by mainstream supermarkets had long-term consequences for the cognitive, academic, and psychosocial development of school-aged children (Alaimo, Olson, and Frongillo 2001). Aisle 5ive will be able to directly impact these residents by providing high quality produce and other essential household groceries.
The Historical Record of Aisle 5ive:
Aisle 5ive was founded February 10th, 2017 by Dylan J. Foster. Established as an official LLC on October 13th, 2017. Originally the idea came about after a long conversation with a homeless man who said "since you helped me with $10 dollars I'm going to help you with $10 million dollars" -- the man then detailed how a grocery store was needed and how to make one successful in a food desert. After much time & deliberation of thought, another passionate discussion between Mr. Foster and a Colleague during the height of the water crisis in Flint, Michigan rekindled the flame the gentleman once before started in Dylan. The question of “How can we not just tweet and share but rather get out here and physically make an impact!?” was the main topic of the discussion. From that day Aisle 5ive has been on a mission.
Aisle 5ive is a B2B & B2C Limited Liability Company registered in the State of Texas October 2017, and headquartered in Dallas, TX.