Montclair’s 4th Ward Is Facing ‘Food Insecurity,’ Needs Grocery Store

MONTCLAIR, NJ — A protest about “food insecurity” may seem out of place in Montclair – a New Jersey suburb that boasts a Whole Foods, an ACME and a Kings Food Market – but that’s exactly the issue plaguing residents of the town’s 4th Ward, many of whom say they haven't had a supermarket in walking distance since the Pathmark at Lackawanna Plaza closed in November of 2015.

On Sunday, dozens of residents gathered for a rally at Lackawanna Plaza to raise awareness about a lack of affordable and healthy places to purchase their groceries in the Montclair neighborhood that used to be served by the Pathmark.

The now-defunct store is located in a section of town with a historically large African-American population, and employed 95 percent black and Hispanic workers around the time of its demise, according to court documents.

• See related article: Death Of A Supermarket: Montclair Pathmark In Lackawanna Plaza Closes
• See related article: Montclair Pathmark Store Laying Off 106 Employees on Thanksgiving

Fourth Ward Councilmember Renee Baskerville told the assembled crowd on Sunday that there are allegedly plans to bring a ShopRite to the grounds where the Pathmark once stood, but added that the township doesn't have a redevelopment plan in place yet for the property.

In a Monday statement, Baskerville said that for the past two years, she’s been meeting with more than 100 residents in the 4th Ward in a grassroots effort to bring a new supermarket to the area, preferably with the same Fair Trade, locally grown, healthy offerings that Montclair’s other wards have access to.

According to Baskerville:

“Those who have been working with me on this for the past two years… want to make certain that the farmers and all of the workers at the incoming grocery store are union workers and that they are afforded fair wages, health benefits, family and medical leave, and that local residents are afforded preferences in hiring for all of the jobs and contracts… and that 4th Ward residents are given preference for service on advisory and other boards the grocery store might establish.”

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File photo: The defunct Pathmark at Lackawanna Plaza, courtesy of Armando “OUTthere” Diaz