Although still a work in progress, the vision of Dreaming Out Loud—a dedicated organization focused on creating economic opportunities for marginalized communities through a healthy, equitable food ecosystem—is coming to life at the upcoming Marion Barry Avenue Market in Southeast, D.C.’s Ward Eight.
When completed, the Marion Barry Avenue Market, located at 1303 Marion Barry Ave SE, will become the second full-service grocery store in Ward 8 and the fourth in Wards 7 and 8, compared to 46 in the other six wards of the city.
Jaren Hill Lockridge, director of Strategic Partnerships at Dreaming Out Loud, took The Informer on a hard hat tour of the developing facility. Once open and fully operational, the market will feature a full-service grocery store, dining space, areas for community events, cold food storage, and educational programming.
“We’re going to start with making sure that folks understand where the food comes from,” said Lockridge. “Folks know they’re getting food from grocery stores but beyond that, they don’t know. What we know is where the food came from, every hand that touched it and we’re able to identify the seeds that it came from.”
The organization’s Dream Program has supported over 60 different food organizations, entrepreneurs or entities to help them scale up in the food business.
“We want to bring [food entrepreneurs] into the network when we can’t take a job or we have an event and we need vendors, we can give them additional market access,” said Dreaming Out Loud Communications Manager Nardos Alemayehu.
The program includes a Farm and Food Hub located at Kelly Miller in Ward 7 and collaborates with growers across the East Coast, with a particular focus on Black and women growers.
The Market will include produce, a food bar, and an open kitchen where diners and patrons can watch meal preparation as well as indoor and back patio seating for guests.
The hope is for the Market to become a center locals can count on to provide fresh produce, meals, cooking demonstrations and more.
Rather than using the term “food desert,” Dreaming Out Loud addresses what staff describes as “food apartheid.” This concept reflects the belief that discriminatory planning and policy decisions have created inequalities in access to fresh food.
“Ending food apartheid is a racial justice issue. It is a human-made phenomenon that is a function of overlapping systems of oppression — white supremacy, profit-over-people capitalism, racialized violence and discrimination, and the resultant racial wealth gap,” said Dreaming out Loud Executive Director Christopher Bradshaw. “An end means healed individuals, and communities.”
Lockridge anticipates that construction will be completed by late summer. However, the organization plans to open The Market in phases, with the public opening expected next spring.
“We’re not opening up a grocery store, we’re opening the Marion Barry Avenue Market! Back in the day, you would go to the market to get the things that were needed. That’s what this is going to be, a community hub!”