The Lower Ninth Ward has been a hot topic since Katrina devastated the area, but smatterings of new homes and nonprofits can only do so much for the neighborhood’s long-term revitalization. People need to eat, and the closest thing Lower Ninth residents have to a grocery store is a Wal Mart in Chalmette, three miles from their homes. 

Chicken Mart is about to get some competition, and they're armed with veggies. Reinforced by a loan from the City that requires stocking fresh food, a new produce and seafood is planning to open in Central City in the near future. DaFresh, which will be located at the corner of Baronne St. and Jackson Ave., will be run by New Orleans native Douglas B. Kariker, a native New Orleanian, and employ eight people.

In today's article about tomorrow's Street Fare Derby, Erica Normand of nolafoodtrucks.com talks about how food trucks supplement grocery stores in food deserts. Well, according to a new report, we need all the help we can get. New Orleans is at the top of the food desert pyramid among American cities, according to News One. The ranking partially reiles on data from the Congressional Hunger Center, which says we now have 20 grocery stores, as compared to 30 before K.

Over the past year, our love for the mobile eats has only grown, and plenty of food trucks have sprouted up to satiate. Some of the vanguards of this scene will be under the bright lights at the Fair Grounds for the inaugural Street Fare Derby Saturday.

It’s common knowledge that the South leads the nation in obesity rates, but recent studies also show that Southern states are among the least “food secure,” meaning that hunger and basic nutrition are serious problems for much of the population. It’s an interesting irony that while Southerners are getting fatter and fatter, more of us are also going hungry.