TAMPA — The area’s newest Wal-Mart Supercenter, at the intersection of Bearss and Nebraska avenues, will face little if any competition from other stores when it opens this spring.
The neighborhood is labeled a “food desert,” defined by the federal government as an area where most of the residents — predominantly low-income — have to travel more than one mile to get to the nearest market that sells fresh produce and other nutritious food. This particular desert covers an area southwest of Interstate 275 and west of Livingston Avenue, and is home to more than 4,500 people, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Supercenter is the latest in a handful of Wal-Marts that have opened in the Tampa Bay area as the national chain targets food deserts across the country in cooperation with first lady Michelle Obama’s campaign to end childhood obesity. Recently-opened Wal-Mart stores in St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Tampa also are inside or within one mile of designated food deserts.
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