By GARY LEE
Oasis Fresh Market held a pop-up event last Saturday, featuring food demonstrations, live music, giveaways and sign-ups for the first Double Up Oklahoma program in a Tulsa grocery store.
Double Up Oklahoma increases access to fresh foods for low-income and food-insecure Oklahomans by matching SNAP dollars spent, up to $20 per day, toward the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables at participating farmers markets and grocery stores.
“Having Double Up Oklahoma at Oasis is such great news for our community,” said District 1 Tulsa City Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper, “and it’s about more than just food, it’s about improving overall health for our families. I believe in the power of healthy-food access.”
“I feel so blessed that Oasis has the privilege of offering this resource to our community,” said A.J. Johnson, majority owner and operator, Oasis Fresh Market, at 1725 N. Peoria Ave. “Hunger Free Oklahoma has successfully implemented this program in nine other grocery stores statewide and it has increased purchasing of fresh foods and supported the local grocery stores, I’m excited to see the potential for North Tulsa as the first Tulsa grocery store and first Black-owned grocery store in Oklahoma offering DUO.”
“Oklahoma ranks 49th in the nation in fruit and vegetable consumption,” said Chris Bernard, executive director for Hunger Free Oklahoma, “This leads to an increased risk of chronic diseases such as hypertension, heart disease, and Type 2 diabetes. It is a transformational program that increases food security, increases healthy choices, expands access for the entire community, and brings more dollars into our local businesses and local economy.”
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Oasis Fresh Market. Owner A.J. Johnson, Tulsa Oklahoma
