Note: This story has been updated with information about Oasis' funding and a statement from Dollar General.
From municipal to federal, government officials across the country are looking to north Tulsa for ways to address food insecurity.
On Wednesday morning, Trade Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya toured Oasis Fresh Market in north Tulsa. During his visit, Bedoya said he wants to learn from people like Oasis owner Aaron Johnson, Tulsa councilwoman Vanessa Hall-Harper and others to see if the FTC can “ensure that more ‘oases’ can start across the country.”
He was joined by Pine Bluff, Arkansas city councilors Latisha Brunson and Lanette Frazier, who hope to pave the way for a grocery store in their city.
“If every north Tulsa across the country had an Oasis, this would be a very different country,” Bedoya said.
Located on North Peoria Avenue just north of Pine Street in majority-Black north Tulsa, Oasis opened in 2021. It opened with the help of nearly $1 million in public money after Reasor's and Wal-Mart chose not to open locations in north Tulsa after being asked.
It's the first true grocery store north Tulsa in 14 years, and north Tulsa’s first Black-owned grocery store in more than 50 years.
Hall-Harper said Oasis opened as part of the broader mission to close the life expectancy gap in north Tulsa. Tulsans in the majority-Black area are expected to live 12.5 fewer years than residents in other parts of the city.
“This isn’t about it being nice to have a grocery store in their community. This is about kids not going to the grocery store with ulcers because they don’t have access to fresh foods, fresh groceries, fresh vegetables. This is about giving people more time with their husbands, their wives, their kids, their moms, their dads, because they’re able to eat healthy and access that life,” said Bedoya.
The grocery store is what drew Brunson and Frazier to visit Tulsa on Wednesday. Brunson said she’s spoken to Johnson, and that the next step is bringing Oasis members to Pine Bluff to survey the city for a possible second location.
“I was a person that went through not having any food, having make a decision between paying a bill and getting food. So I know the importance of having a grocery store and food available to the citizens,” said Frazier.
Oasis opened after city council enacted a moratorium on new Dollar General stores in north Tulsa in 2017. A UCLA study published this year tied the presence of Dollar General and Dollar Tree to the failure of local grocers, the decline of produce purchases, and spikes in crime.
This city ordinance also created a Healthy Neighborhoods Overlay district in the Greenwood, Crutchfield and 36th Street North areas.
“There’s been communities across this country reaching out to Tulsa to figure out, ‘How can we duplicate the moratorium that you put in place, the healthy neighborhoods overlay that you put in place, to address food insecurity?’” said Hall-Harper, who led the effort to pass the ordinance.
When asked about Oasis and the moratorium, a spokesperson from Dollar General said the company remains "steadfast" in their commitment to serve north Tulsa "and are ready to invest in new stores if restrictive measures are repealed. The spokesperson also mentioned Dollar General's "Better For You" resources aimed to help customers make healthy decisions, and its donations to organizations like Feeding America.
When it comes to Dollar General and big box stores like Wal-Mart, Bedoya said he could see if stores are violating the Robinson-Patman Act, which outlaws price discrimination in the United States. This law was passed in 1936 to prohibit national grocery chains from using kickbacks to kill local competition.
“I’m grateful for the Federal Trade Commission and his staff to be here today so that we can say, ‘Hey, these are issues that we’re going to keep an eye on,’” said Hall-Harper.
“To have someone of their level come out to Oasis and really be a part of the conversation for, ‘How can we go into other food deserts, and what laws and options are available to us?’ — it really means a lot for them to come out here today,” Johnson said.
