Welcome to Grocery Diaries, a new series that illustrates just how varied and personalized “healthy eating” really is. So many factors impact the choices we make at the grocery store, including access and affordability, health conditions, our individual cultural backgrounds, even what simply makes us (and our taste buds) happy. So we asked people across the country to share their grocery lists with us, and then called up a few of them to ask for more details. Why do they buy what they buy? How much do they spend? Who are they shopping for? What health conditions or nutritional concerns are they thinking about when they choose, for instance, almond milk over cow’s milk, or particular flavors or spices or treats? In this Grocery Diaries installment, we hear from a Kentucky grocery store owner working to increase access to fresh food in Louisville’s West End.
Name: Shauntrice Martin
Age: 36
Occupation: Lobbyist and grocery store owner
Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Race/Gender: Black woman
Health conditions/dietary restrictions to consider: Shauntrice has a family history of diabetes and high blood pressure.
Grocery shopping frequency: Shops twice a week for two people
Some of Shauntrice Martin’s favorite childhood memories involve making dinner with her grandparents. “I learned a lot of stories about our family during that time when we were preparing meals,” she tells SELF. Shauntrice also developed an appreciation for fresh food and home-cooked meals after watching her great-grandmother pick vegetables from her farm. “I remember being able to see everything that got put in a recipe and understanding the importance of each ingredient,” she says. “If we were out of something, then the entire recipe would change.”
At home Shauntrice ate very differently. Her mom worked long hours and didn’t have time to cook, so Shauntrice frequently ate microwaveable meals or other packaged food. What’s more, her mom just didn’t have access to fresh food at the local grocery store. “We were on food stamps, but the place we got our food from didn’t really have fresh options,” she says.
As an adult, Shauntrice wondered whether food affected her family’s medical history. Her grandmother had diabetes and her mom developed high blood pressure, but to Shauntrice’s knowledge, her great-grandmother didn’t have these types of medical conditions. “I think a lot about the way my mother ate versus the way my great-grandmother ate, and that really influences what I eat now,” she says.
It’s important to mention that Shauntrice’s mom smoked, which is one risk factor for developing high blood pressure. High blood pressure happens when your blood puts excessive force against your artery walls, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). People develop high blood pressure for various reasons, including a high-sodium diet, a family history of the condition, and smoking, according to the Mayo Clinic. Over time, high blood pressure can lead to other medical conditions like a heart attack. And while there are many ways to try to prevent or manage high blood pressure, regularly eating a variety of nutritious foods (especially fruits and vegetables) is one of them.
Shauntrice is also concerned about developing diabetes, which happens when your blood sugar, or blood glucose, is consistently too high, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) explains. Glucose is our body’s main source of energy and we get it from food and drinks. People with diabetes can develop issues like nerve damage, eye problems, and kidney disease. Treatment plans vary and can include taking insulin or limiting the amount of saturated fat, sodium, and sugar you eat.
When determining how to eat in order to feel her best and try to avoid these conditions, Shauntrice doesn’t study food labels to track things like sugar or saturated fat. To her, healthy eating means including a variety of fresh food in her diet. “I look at the colors in my basket. Do I have an array of fruits and vegetables?” she explains. But this can be a hard goal to reach. Shauntrice lives in the West End of Louisville, a predominantly Black area she says has only one large grocery store. The area is a food desert, meaning it’s a low-income community with too few grocery stores, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Before the pandemic Shauntrice grocery-shopped in a wealthier neighborhood, where the stores had a larger selection of fresh produce. Then, in June, her only local grocery store closed for a period during the Black Lives Matter protests. Shauntrice was inspired to open her own grocery store, Black Market KY, which sells products from local and Black-owned companies. “It was really important for me to do this,” she says. “The community is predominantly Black, but we don’t have a lot of Black businesses. It’s important to me that more Black businesses can make money.” Now Shauntrice shops at her own store for herself and her seven-year-old-son, Iniejah, and she also sources some of their food from other local shops and sellers. Here are 10 items she eats in a typical week.
1. Plantains: $7
Shauntrice learned about plantains when she studied abroad in Trinidad during college. “I thought it was like a Trinidadian banana,” she says. “I don’t even know if I had heard the word plantain before.” She says living in another country for a semester opened her mind to food that she wouldn’t normally try. “I was super picky before going out of the country,” Shauntrice says. “I committed to myself that I would try new stuff. I didn’t want to disrespect people and their food.” Now fried plantains are one of her favorite snacks. “I really like when they’re blackened,” she says.
2. Jamaican ackees: $13
During her time in Trinidad, Shauntrice also learned about ackee, a fruit native to West Africa and also common in the Caribbean. She remembers eating ackee with salt fish (people often eat the two together) at breakfast. At the time Shauntrice thought the large chunks of pale yellow fruit were scrambled eggs. “I thought, Maybe this isn’t a chicken egg. I didn’t ask any questions,” she says. (She later learned about ackee from her professor.) Shauntrice makes ackee at home whenever it’s in stock at her local African market. “It’s not even always at the market that I go to,” she tells us. “I usually call ahead and make sure it’s there.” With that said, Shauntrice usually eats the fruit alone instead of with its usual seafood companion: “I’m not good at making salt fish.”
3. Organic eggs from Phonograph Farms: $3
Every three weeks Shauntrice drives three hours to buy eggs from this farm owned by former NFL player George Wilson. “It’s our best-selling item at the store,” she says. Shauntrice says Phonograph eggs taste noticeably different from the standard grocery store egg: “They’re delicious. They’re heartier, and the yolk is thicker. They’re much fluffier when you’re making scrambled eggs or pancakes.”
It was love at first taste when Shauntrice tried this banana peanut butter at a women-owned business pop-up event in 2019. “There’s little banana chips in it. It’s kind of like cookies and cream ice cream but with banana chips,” she says. “It just tastes really good, and it’s super sweet from the banana. I haven’t had a nut butter with that element in it.” She eats this on top of cinnamon raisin toast and in her smoothies.
Shauntrice’s friends frequently tag her in Facebook posts about Louisville businesses. That’s how Shauntrice learned about Keith Griffith III, a 13-year-old beekeeper and owner of Beeing2Gether honey. She loved his ambition and supports Keith by selling his honey at Black Market KY. “When I was 13, I wasn’t thinking about starting a business,” she says. “I own a business now, and I can’t imagine being mature enough to do that even 10 years ago. That’s amazing to me.” She likes to drizzle honey on her baked fish, in her smoothies, and on top of pancakes.
Shauntrice carries meat from Black-owned farm Cleav’s Family Market at her store and also buys their ground meats for herself. “What I usually do is get hamburger and sausage, and I mix the two,” Shauntrice says. Then she adds in chopped celery, bell pepper, onions, and garlic to make “water burgers,” named for the fact that they’re extra juicy with the added vegetables. “That’s how my great-grandmother used to make burgers,” she says.
7. Trader Joe’s Organic Roasted Seaweed With Sea Salt: $3.49
“I go through so many of these every week—probably like 20 packs,” Shauntrice says. “I always crack one open in the car on the way home from Trader Joe’s.” Initially she bought these for Iniejah when he was a toddler but has grown to love them too. In fact, she always keeps a few in her purse in case she wants a crispy snack when running errands.
8. Smucker’s Uncrustables Peanut Butter & Grape Jelly Sandwich: $7.79
Iniejah is allowed to make anything that doesn’t need to be cooked, which explains why he goes through at least one box of Uncrustables a week. “He’s into making his own stuff. I think he really just likes the independence,” Shauntrice says. Plus, he can unwrap one without worrying about cleaning up after himself. “He could make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but then he has to wash dishes and I think he’d rather not.”
“When I was pregnant, dairy did not sit well with my stomach and I just stuck with almond milk afterward,” Shauntrice says of her milk preference. “Our first choice is the vanilla sweetened, but a lot of times that’s out for some reason.” Living in a food desert, she can’t always find the food she wants, such as organic produce and this almond milk. When she does find this almond milk while shopping, Shauntrice buys extra so she always has some on hand.
10. Apple juice from Ida’s Juice: $5
Shuantrice used to buy her apple juice from a woman named Ida, a local Louisville mom. “You would message her on Facebook with your order and she delivered it to your home.” So what made Ida’s juice so special? Shauntrice says it reminded her of the fresh-pressed cider she likes to drink in the fall. Ida doesn’t sell juice anymore, Shauntrice says, so Shauntrice’s homemade smoothies have replaced her juice habit instead. “My favorite blend is probably one with cilantro, lime, and kale. It’s super tangy,” she says.
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