For the past two decades, residents of Indian Head, Maryland, had to travel almost 10 miles to pick up their essential groceries, but that changed in the fall when a couple opened a new food market to meet that need in a food desert.
Mark and Marilyn Steele hadn’t planned to own a food market, but they knew the need was severe.
“A grocery store is a cornerstone of a community, and if you want to see a healthy community, you’ve got to have a good store,” Marilyn Steele said.
Indian Head was without a grocery store for almost 25 years.
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“I’m like, ‘Oh, my God! That shouldn’t be,’” Marilyn Steel said.
For more than a decade, the town was a federally deemed food desert.
“A lot of folks, they don’t have access to transportation, that just means elderly populations or different income levels, that kind of all feed into that equation,” Indian Head Mayor Brandon Paulin said.
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He said work to bring a grocery store to the area started well before he became mayor.
“In 1999, the Super Fresh left the town of Indian Head, and they’re have been many folks, town councils over the years that have tried to address the issue,” Paulin said.
Then the Steeles got involved. They already owned a coffee shop, but the new business venture could serve as an oasis, which is why the store was named Oasis Fresh Foods Market.
The Steeles hope to achieve one goal for their customers.
“I wanted to give everyone a fighting chance at feeding their family well, and that’s what this store represents,” Marilyn Steele said. “You can go from your fresh produce to meats. You can go from canned vegetables to breads. You can go from grab-and-go to prepared foods. It has everything you need to sustain a family well.”
