This number comes from efforts of the last 3 years from my Detroit Food Map project. I started completing nutritional assessments of grocery stores in May 2012 working off of the DEGC list of full-line grocery stores. In the summer of 2013 I put together a team of 15 volunteer surveyors from local universities and community groups to survey all of Detroit’s grocery stores. We found that 77 of them met the criteria for a full-line grocery store and all of the stores surveyed carried at least 15 varieties of fruits and vegetables. The major difference with many of Detroit’s grocery stores and big chain supermarkets is often the size of the produce section, which limits the selection.

Over the last 3 years I’ve seen a handful of grocery stores close, a few new ones open, and some even converted into Family Dollar locations.

Find out more about the project: Detroit Food Map

Photo credit: Wally Nowinski (Detroit’s Grocery Stores)