BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – Bama Health Foods has reopened in its permanent location in West Birmingham and for the first time, the grocery store inside is accepting EBT and SNAP benefits.
The store has operated out of a neighboring space since April, when a car drove through the building. Before that, it had weathered the COVID-19 pandemic and a fire and pushed through.
‘Urban micro grocer’ targets food desert
Owner Jacquie Fazekas-Varner said Nourish Grocer is designed to expand healthy food access in a community she describes as a food desert.
“Nourish Grocer is what I call an urban micro grocer designed and hyper-curated, very selective, in the assortments that we carry,” Fazekas-Varner said.
The store carries items including cauliflower pasta, unsalted tuna, organic nuts, Greek yogurt, chia seeds, flax seeds, healthy chips, puddings, and energy drinks — products Fazekas-Varner said are difficult to find in the area.
“We’re in a food desert so Nourish Grocer was designed to make it easy and enjoyable to find healthy foods in the community,” she said.
Education built into the shopping experience
Beyond groceries, the store aims to educate shoppers on nutrition and healthy choices.
“I like to say it’s an immersive educational experience that you can do with us or without us. You can enjoy learning as you shop, and how cool is that? It’s empowering to learn what sugars are not and what sugars maybe are not,” Fazekas-Varner said.
She said the goal is to make healthy living accessible to everyone.
“To keep it real, not everyone has access to these things, we talk about being healthy and so you sort of give up and you become hopeless and helpless when you don’t have good choices,” Fazekas-Varner said. “Everyone is deserving of good health.”
Nourish Grocer is adding new products daily and plans to expand its selection of organic and locally grown produce.
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