After two Safeway grocery stores recently closed in Colorado Springs, worries emerged about food access for the city’s residents, especially the elderly and those living in poverty. More limited access means that more residents live in areas classified as a “food desert.”

The latest Safeway closures, combined with rising grocery prices, are only set to exacerbate some residents’ challenges in finding fresh, healthy food.

Even though smaller grocers and convenience stores are nearby, residents may need to turn to food banks or pantries as they are forced to choose between paying their bills and buying groceries.

In El Paso County, roughly 10% of the population is food insecure, according to Feeding America. This means that about 70,000 people “cannot access enough food due to a lack of money and other essential resources,” according to the organization.

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City planners refer to grocery stores as the “holy grail” of neighborhood development. Many parts of the city are within 1 mile of a major grocery store, a critical factor the U.S. Department of Agriculture uses to determine areas that have adequate access to food.

But for an area, measured by a census tract, to be a food desert, it has to satisfy two criteria — distance from a grocery store and income levels. First, more than 500 people, or 33% of the tract’s residents, must live more than a mile from the grocery store. Second, an area must have a poverty rate of 20% or greater, or a median income at or below 80% the state or metropolitan area’s median income.

If both conditions are met, the USDA considers that census tract to be a food desert. The department tracks these areas online in the Food Access Research Atlas, though it pulls from 2019 census data.

A closer analysis by The Gazette, using more current Census Bureau data, visualizes food access issues in Colorado Springs. The map highlights areas with higher recorded poverty rates and draws a 1-mile radius around every King Soopers, Walmart, Safeway and Target within the city.

Areas in the southeast, central core and along the Interstate 25 corridor south of downtown qualify as food deserts by the USDA definition. And in the southeast, the closure of the Safeway at 1425 S. Murray Blvd. worries Patience Kabwasa, the executive director of Food to Power.

“True food access means having affordable, nutritious, culturally relevant food within reasonable reach, and that’s more than just miles,” she said. “El Paso County’s food insecurity rate is higher than the national average, suggesting that Colorado Springs does face more severe challenges than many comparable cities.”

Food to Power was founded in 2013 and uses a direct redistribution model to deliver surplus food from supermarkets to community food organizations. Last year, the organization delivered food to more than 35,000 people, Kabwasa said.

Colorado Springs is home to more than 30 major grocery stores from chains such as King Soopers, Safeway, Walmart, Target and Sprouts. But they are not the only options.

There are also two Costco Warehouses and Sam’s Clubs in the city, as well as one Trader Joe’s and one Whole Foods Market. For military families, there are base commissaries.

And there are several Latino grocers, known as “tiendas” or “mercados,” that can help fill the gap left by major grocers. Latinos make up roughly one-fifth of Colorado Springs’ population. The tiendas and mercados are a valuable resource for residents of the city at large and the Latino population, according to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

“Latino-owned grocery stores are far more than places to buy food — they are anchors of community, culture, and resilience,” the Chamber said in a news release issued after Safeway announced the closures. “In neighborhoods classified as ‘food deserts,’ these markets ensure access to affordable, fresh, and culturally relevant foods.”

Six of the seven active mercados and tiendas are located south of Platte Avenue, but north of U.S. 24. One, Sonora’s Prime Carniceria & Taco Shop, is located at Barnes and Marksheffle Roads, north of the main cluster.

Luna Market, located just off Academy Boulevard near Airport Road, is run by Mike Moon. He got involved with the store amid the 2008 financial crisis and has seen business increase for 15 years.

That changed two years ago due to external factors. First came the construction, then came federal raids in the area.

“Whenever there’s a raid, everything just kind of shuts down,” he said. “When El Ranchito got raided, I didn’t have customers for hours (after opening) … Everyone is filled with anxiety, (and) they don’t know what’s going to happen.”

El Ranchito was the target of a Drug Enforcement Administration raid in August. Federal agents seized a phone, bags of cash and computers, though employees called the raid harassment.

But regardless of the anxiety within the Latino community and the ongoing question of food access in southeast Colorado Springs, Moon does not believe many customers will find their way to Luna Market because of the Safeway closures.

The Safeway on Murray is more than a mile from Moon’s market, and it would take about half an hour for nearby residents to walk there.

“I think most of the business (from the Safeway) may go to the Walmart,” he said. “We might get some residual business. … Value shoppers will prioritize the bigger box stores but we will see how it plays out.”

Even so, Moon has plans to rejuvenate the shopping center that Luna Market, located at 280 S. Academy Blvd., calls home. That will likely take another two years, he said.

Adrian Teyechea is the manager of Sonora’s Prime in Falcon, which opened two years ago. He’s worked at the family’s stores since he was 10 years old and said they’ve never focused on what other grocers are doing.

Their stores are stocked with Mexican candies and fresh meats, among other items. But that’s not what he believes sets the stores apart from big box grocers; it’s the focus on customer service.

“Not a lot of people feel welcome walking into a grocery store,” Teyechea said. “Our customer service is what sets us apart. We welcome customers as if they are a friend or family.”

The location in Falcon opened in December 2023. The family has operated Sonora’s for over 20 years. The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce trumpets the tiendas as a valuable local resource, but believes more can be done to sustain them.

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“By investing in the mercados and tiendas that already sustain our neighborhoods … Colorado Springs can transform ‘food deserts’ into thriving community food ecosystems,” the Chamber said.

There are several Asian markets in Colorado Springs as well. Likely the most well-known and largest, Asian Pacific Market, is located near the intersection of Platte Avenue and Wooten Road. Others are spread throughout the community, with several along South Academy Boulevard.

The USDA does not take into account Latino or Asian markets, nor convenience stores, food banks or farmers’ markets, which is a major shortcoming, said Kabwasa. This approach potentially discounts “the role of other food sources,” she said.

Getting communities access to healthy foods is important, said Kabwasa. But just as important is ensuring a new grocery store coming to an area is relevant to the people living there.

“So even if a swanky grocery store moves into a, you know, low-income, low- access community, if the population isn’t able to afford those prices, they’re not going to be utilizing that store,” she said.

With federal food benefits beginning to appear on shaky ground, largely due to the ongoing government shutdown, food insecurity could rise.  This alarmed food bank operators who joined a roundtable discussion hosted by Sen. Michael Bennet to discuss their challenges on Oct. 15, two weeks after the start of the latest government shutdown.

“The scary thing for those of us in this business is we haven’t seen the requisite decline in need; we’ve seen that need grow over the years,” said Nate Springer, the president and CEO of Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado. “What we didn’t anticipate were the cuts to all the federal nutrition programs.”

As part of an ongoing push to shrink the federal workforce and reduce spending, President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act cut federal funding for food aid programs in several ways. This will increase costs to states, which will have to cover some costs for food aid.

In Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis asked for $10 million from the Joint Budget Committee in order to make up the gap left by federal funding. The request was approved on Oct. 30.

The $10 million won’t come close to filling the entire void, however, but, because of the way food banks operate, the money may be stretched in terms of how much food can be purchased, according to past reporting by The Gazette.  

For Care and Share, all three factors — the government shutdown, food insecurity and closing grocery stores — create something of a perfect storm. The organization relies on food from grocery stores to replenish its stocks and deliver those items to people in need.

Last year, the organization delivered 25 million pounds of food, according to Springer. Close to 15%, about 3.6 million pounds, was recovered from grocery stores, he said.

“You’ll see our box trucks on the road every day in Colorado Springs and Pueblo, recovering food from nearly every grocery store that there is in our communities. … It’s a huge amount of food,” Springer said. Any time a grocery store closes, it eliminates one of the food banks’ direct partners, he added.

At the Silver Key Food Pantry, located at 1605 S. Murray Blvd. the local Safeway is “part of who we are in many ways,” said Silver Key President and CEO Jason DeaBueno. When checking out, customers are often asked if they’d like to round up their total as a charitable donation.

This money is loaded onto gift cards that Silver Key uses to buy food near its expiration date, but that is still safe to eat, at a discounted rate, to stock its food pantry. With Safeway shutting down, that will become more difficult, DeaBueno said.

“(Safeway) closing will probably make it a little bit less available to get some of the local donations,” he said. “What we have really experienced more recently is the food insecurity across the community has been a struggle.”