Your Store of the Queen City (YSQC) is advancing food justice in Cincinnati by collaboratively empowering food access in historic food deserts
Five years ago, neighbors in Lower Price Hill came together to restore access to fresh, affordable groceries in their community. With support from the City of Cincinnati and partners including Community Matters, Urban Appalachian Community Coalition, and Price Hill Will, they formed Your Store of the Queen City and launched Meiser's Fresh Grocery and Deli—a community-driven food hub built by and for residents. Meiser’s became a powerful example of what is possible when neighbors lead.
Over the past five years, our YSQC team has learned valuable lessons about what it takes to sustain this work: strong community leadership, clear collaboration, and diversified financial support are all essential. At the same time, we have continued to face the same systemic challenges that created food deserts in the first place, such as supply chain barriers and income instability. We are proud of the impact it had on our community and our successful transition of that space back to the community for the next neighbor-led initiative. The experience gave us first hand understanding of the challenges and the gaps that our food system faces both from the retail and the nonprofit sectors.
After reevaluating community needs in relation to our mission, our team is focusing on fully implementing systemic food systems change. We have committed to creating a strong foundation of support for all food access entities, to keep small grocers in business, to empower new grocery entities to serve historic food deserts, and to support nonprofit food access initiatives.
To begin this work, we are building a Buying Collective and Collaborative Food Exchange to leverage shared purchasing power to overcome systemic supply chain barriers and build a sustainable, community-controlled food system.
IN THE MEDIA
"Lower Price Hill is a food desert neighborhood with the lowest life expectancy in Cincinnati. Residents have partnered with Your Store of the Queen City to change that."
Congratulations on winning a Fast Pitch 2020 Merit Award and an SVP Partner Pick Award!
-Social Venture Partners Cincinnati
Together, The Collective and Your Store founded the LPH Collective Good[s] Artists + Makers Market to bring people together during a world pandemic.
""People just don't care what happens in Lower Price Hill." ..But the beauty is clear to neighbors... "I'm selling my art today. Ain't no way, they aren't going to keep me away from my programs."
Kachelle Davis, neighbor and co-founder of the Lower Price Hill Artists Collective
"A neighborhood is preparing to welcome a new store.
There will be discounts for neighbors, but the store will be open to the public."
""I've been baking since I was 18 years old. "Now you have to pay $2.25 to get on the bus, go to Krogers, so now you made a 2 hour trip just for some seasoning or to get a canned good. Right now we're in process of getting our own market open."
Marisha Davis is a local food entrepreneur and member of the Lower Price Hill Neighborhood Action Team supported by Community Matters."
"Employees with Your Store of the Queen City and many area groups are working to reverse that trend and empower families in their fight against COVID-19.
They’re adding soap, paper towels and many other items that will help people keep their homes clean and safe to meal donations that they receive."
""Lower Price Hill resident Melissa Baker said she tried having groceries delivered instead, but the store was constantly substituting more expensive items when the brands she requested weren’t available.
“They’d always try to increase your grocery bill,” Baker said.
So community organizations found ways to help their own. "
- Melissa Baker, neighbor and founding board member.
"A new nonprofit grocery store will open soon down the street.
“A neighborhood is like an ecosystem,” Smith said. “You need places for people to live, you also need places for people to work and play,"
"We have the committed partners in the right places,” Hall said. “Some are farther along than others in having the dollars needed to get hammers swinging, but hopefully in the next two to three years, you’ll really see a transformation in the neighborhood"
"“I just love that we have a store [coming] here and being that it’s not for profit, that they’re not here to try to take,” she said.
“But just make sure that we have accessibility and healthy food.”"
- Tameca Ballard, neighbor & entrepreneur
" The kind of work and advocacy we see from [Your Store of the Queen City] is precisely the kind of community engagement that characterizes what the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition envisions as we promote a decent quality of life for Appalachian citizens of Greater Cincinnati. These commitments extend to all the communities that now define Lower Price Hill and Greater Cincinnati."
- UACC Voice
""The truth is, I worked for my dad from the time I was 12 years old...My dad taught me every neighbor deserves to be treated with respect."
Meiser's Parkview Market on State Avenue in Lower Price Hill is now closed. [Cincy Stories] had this conversation with Carl Meiser, the owner and manager of Meiser's Parkview Market just a few short months before he made that decision."
