Dollar Stores and Rats: Can You Smell the Irony?

In case you missed it in the news recently, two events took place independently but seem nonetheless closely related. Progressive Grocer, a food industry publication, recently published a story celebrating the business success of Dollar General stores and deemed them “Retailer of the Year.” [1] Why?  Due to their phenomenal growth in the U.S. and their sound economic standing. Last year, Dollar General commanded 18,000 stores with sales of $33.7 billion in 2021.   The dollar store industry is growing rapidly – from 20,000 to 30,000 between 2015 and 2018 and up to 50,000 additional stores are planned in the near future. [2]  As shown by the figure below, Texas had the most dollar stores (3,400), followed by Florida (2,100) and Ohio (1,700). 

In a webinar that I published recently, [3] I questioned the wisdom of celebrating such an achievement in the dollar store industry.  Yes, phenomenal expansions and sales are important metrics in the business world.  But the desire to celebrate this achievement was diminished as one ponders the documented harm caused by dollar stores in communities throughout the U.S., especially food deserts that are the primary focus of their marketing strategy.  You see, food deserts are populated primarily by lower-income blacks and Latinos who show a higher prevalence of chronic illnesses that are directly associated with consuming the types of unhealthy foods sold by dollar stores. [4]  Mainstream supermarkets have made it a practice of avoiding food deserts, often citing social indicators that lower profitability.  If true, then what is driving the phenomenal growth and success of dollar stores --- sheer luck?   The reality is that food deserts often show substantial food expenditures that are derived from employment income and SNAP food benefits – a fact that is well documented by federal sources of information such as the Census Bureau and USDA. [5]

The second noteworthy event is the story about 1,000 rodents that were discovered recently at the Family Dollar store distribution center in Arkansas. According to the story, the FDA announced a recall for items purchased at stores in six southern states. The FDA inspection followed a consumer complaint which discovered inside the building live rodents, dead rodents in “various states of decay,” rodent feces, dead birds and bird droppings. [6] In their news release, Family Dollar listed the 404 stores that may have sold products from the contaminated facility, while it also stated that the company "is not aware of any consumer complaints or reports of illness related to this recall."  Is it possible that the absence of any consumer complaints or reports of illnesses may have provided Family Dollar executives a false sense of security about food safety and therefore precluded the need to conduct regular store inspections?  Indeed, there were dead rodents and others in various stages of decay that could have been present for weeks or months.  Shouldn’t food distribution systems be inspected on a regular schedule and not dependent on consumer complaints?  It was indeed surprising that one consumer complaint was the singular event that initiated the FDA inspection.   

This horrific state of decay in the Family Dollar distribution system should raise alarm bells about food safety at all dollar stores, especially given their rapid growth and their primary customer base – economically and medically vulnerable persons.  Our business and civic leaders, who for the moment appear inspired to address race equity issues, should be held accountable by consumers and require a response to the following three important questions:

• How often are dollar store distribution centers in the U.S. inspected by the FDA? Are these schedules of inspection similar for centers that serve communities with food deserts?
  
  
• Why have zoning laws not been adopted to limit the growth of dollar stores?, and
  
  
• When will public agencies stop incentivizing supermarket chains who continue to avoid food deserts and instead choose to enter communities that are already crowded with multiple supermarkets?

I feel a deep sense of compassion for the many residents in food deserts that find it necessary to purchase food at dollar stores to feed their families, especially knowing how easily rats can make a dollar store distribution warehouse their home for an extended period of time. The prolonged indifference shown by various stakeholders towards this issue --- including supermarket chains, dollar stores, business and civic leaders, and the FDA --- could encourage rat infestations to spread throughout food systems in the more vulnerable communities.  Let’s hope that bolder and more aggressive efforts are taken to ensure the food safety for all communities, especially the most vulnerable ones.

 Reference Notes

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[1] Troy, M.  (2021)   2021 Retailer of the Year. Progressive Grocer, Accessed at: https://progressivegrocer.com/2021-retailer-year-dollar-general

[2]  Donahue, M. (2018 December).  The Impact of Dollar Stores and How Communities Can Fight Back,  Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Accessed at www.ilsr.org/dollar-stores

[3] Rincon, E. T. (2022)  Food Deserts:  Evaluating Their Economic Value. Rincon & Associates LLC, Accessed at:  https://youtu.be/sAGrlnAR8ug?t=00m00s

[4] Ibid 2, Donahue, M.

[5] Rincon, E.T. and Tiwari, C. (2020 March).  Demand metric for supermarket site selection: A case study. Papers in Applied Geography, https://doi.org/10.1080/23754931.2020.1712555

[6]  Associated Press (2022 February)  More than 1,000 rodents found in Family Dollar facility lead to recall of items sold in 6 states. USA Today, accessed at:  https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/shopping/2022/02/19/family-dollar-rodent-infestation/6860094001/

Governor Gregg Abbott: It is definitely time to step down.

 

As the Texas gubernatorial race for 2022 heats up, news coverage strongly suggests that it might be a slam dunk for Gov. Abbott.  Indeed, the governor continues to raise lots of campaign money and a recent poll has Abbott leading Beto O’Rourke by 11 points in a hypothetical match-up. [i] The governor was also spared the political pain of overseeing another failure of the electrical grid system in Texas. A careful look at the polling data and a review of several controversial policies supported by Gov. Abbott suggest that his campaign may not be out of the woods.

Polling Data Results on Favorability

Despite Abbott’s 11-point edge over Beto O’Rourke, only 51 percent of Texas registered voters approved of his job as governor – mostly white Republicans. The poll data also showed that:

·       71 percent of Blacks and 50 percent of Latinos disapproved of Abbott’s job performance as governor, and

·       57 percent of Blacks and 44 percent of Latinos had a favorable impression of Beto O’Rourke.

Assuming a significant turnout by Black and Latino voters, Gov. Abbott’s candidacy could be in jeopardy.   Of course, Gov. Abbott may feel confident that the various laws recently passed to restrict voter participation will ensure a weak turnout by Black and Latino voters, but aggressive voter turnout campaigns could overcome these barriers.

Polling Data on Texas Energy Grid

·       While Gov. Abbott may feel confident that the Texas electricity grid held up during the current winter storm, nearly half (47%) of registered voters were not confident that the state’s electricity grid was prepared to avoid blackouts this winter.

·       Interestingly, in a related Dallas Morning News story, [ii] it was revealed that the demand on Texas’ grid had topped out at 60 gigawatts on Friday morning and that this demand “never came near the record levels seen during last year’s winter storm that brought the grid to a near collapse.” In other words, Gov. Abbott deserves little credit for the adequate performance of the electricity grid this year since we were all blessed with a milder winter that demanded less electricity.

Past Performance

Gov. Abbott, however, does deserve credit for the many public policies that he and his fellow Republicans have supported to the detriment of our quality of life in Texas, especially for Black and Latino residents.  If you plan to vote for Gov. Abbott this March, you should take a moment to reflect on the following policies and judge whether he really deserves your vote.

·       Texas Electricity Grid Remains Vulnerable:  Your lack of action to prevent the electricity grid crisis resulted in the loss of more than 240 lives. As the primary steward of this state, you are responsible for this failure since you appointed the members of the Public Utility Commission who ignored the advice of industry experts for more than a decade to prepare for extreme weather. You cannot hide behind the performance of the grid in 2022 since the system benefited from milder weather conditions. You have yet to explain why recent efforts to improve the weatherization of our infrastructure was not conducted years earlier when it was recommended by industry energy experts.

·       Texas gun laws allow anyone to purchase a gun without a license or training.  Beto O-Rourke is not alone in objecting to this legislation and has the support of various police organizations.  The recent massacre of 23 Latinos and two dozen injuries in El Paso underscores the stupidity driving this legislation and the legislature’s refusal to enact stiff gun control laws.[iii]  It makes little sense, indeed, to support pro-life policies related to abortion laws, while simultaneously making it easier for Texans to end lives by making it easier to access firearms. In addition to the increase of mass shootings, Texas was the second state, following Florida, with the most road rage incidents involving a firearm in 2022. [iv] Not exactly a badge of honor, Gov. Abbott.

·       During the early phases of the COVID-19 crisis, your vaccination and mask mandate policies created confusion and increased the risk of infection and mortalities for many Texans.  Indeed, you decided to lift the mask mandate against the important advice of health experts and other key trends -- Johns Hopkins University showing low vaccination rates and  high positivity rates for Texas; Hispanic mortality rates were four times higher than whites; and Black mortality rates were twice the rate of whites. You also threatened to block the distribution of vaccines allocated to Dallas County because local public officials were planning to target vaccines to the more vulnerable Black and Latino zip codes. Texas Blacks and Latinos were already experiencing greater exposure to COVID-19 due to their jobs, housing arrangements and limited access to vaccination sites.    

·       Falsely claiming that the surge of migrants at the Texas border would lead to a rise in the spread of COVID-19.  But border agencies that process migrants confirmed that they routinely quarantined and tested migrants for COVID-19 prior to entry and release. In addition, Gov. Abbott had refused federal funds that Texas, local governments and non-profits could use to test all migrants for the virus.

·       Falsely claiming that immigrants made crime worse in Texas. Studies addressing this issue in Texas have confirmed that immigrants commit fewer crimes, on average, than native-born Americans. [v]

Gov. Abbott, it is time for you to accept responsibility for your poor judgment and poor performance in these areas.   Your administration presided over the decisions regarding the energy crisis that led to the deaths of more than 240 Texans and caused significant damage to the state’s infrastructure. Your administration generated significant confusion during the COVID-19 crisis and threatened to block the allocation of vaccines to vulnerable Black and Latino communities in Dallas County. And your administration lifted the mask mandate despite objections by medical experts, an action that contributed to higher mortality rates of Texas Blacks and Latinos. You also created fear and hysteria by falsely associating higher crime rates with immigrants and blaming migrants for spreading the COVID-19 virus.

In planning for the Texas gubernatorial race on March of 2022, let’s hope that voters will remember the series of public policy failures and false information campaigns that took place under the watch of Gov. Abbott.  There is really no one else to blame.

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[i] Garrett, R. T. (Jan. 2022).  Abbott running comfortably ahead of O’Rourke in DMN-UT-Tyler poll; Paxton could face runoff. The Dallas Morning News, Accessed at:  https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2022/01/29/abbott-running-comfortably-ahead-of-orourke-in-dmn-ut-tyler-poll-paxton-could-face-runoff/

[ii] Jankowski, P. (February 2022).  Texas electric grid weathers winter blast, showing it’s ‘more reliable’ than ever, Greg Abbott says.  The Dallas Morning News, Accessed at: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2022/02/04/power-grid-holding-up-as-gov-greg-abbott-gets-set-to-update-texans-on-impact-of-ongoing-freeze/

[iii]  Silva, C.  (August 2021). White supremacy, racism: Remembering the El Paso massacre that targeted Latinos. NBCNews.com, Accessed at: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/white-supremacy-racism-remembering-el-paso-massacre-targeted-latinos-rcna1580

[iv]  Borelli, L. (July 2021). Road rage statistics 2022. BankRate.com, accessed at:  https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/car/road-rage-statistics/#stats

[v] Nowraster, A. (2018, February 26). Criminal immigrants in Texas.  The CATO Institute, Accessed at: https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/irpb-4-updated.pdf