The cover of the Herald-Tribune’s May 17 Sunday edition featured a story by staff reporter Samantha Gholar on the opening of Margie’s Market in Sarasota’s Newtown neighborhood.
And Samantha’s story — titled “Finally within reach: Food desert in Sarasota’s historically Black neighborhood is changing” — has sparked plenty of great feedback and response from readers.
Just consider this response from Nelle S. Miller, the CEO of All Faiths Food Bank — the area nonprofit that, with massive support from the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, brought Margie’s Market to life as a much-needed source for high-quality fresh food in Newtown.
In an email to Samantha just hours after “Finally within reach” was published, Miller said she had already received “numerous emails and texts from donors, neighbors, staff and friends” offering applause for Samantha’s powerful piece.
“I do not know how to thank you enough for the support, encouragement, and wonderful, thoughtful coverage that you have given our work in Newtown,” Miller wrote to Samantha.“You have helped to propel us all forward, “Miller added.
It was well-deserved praise.
So here’s a short Q-and-A with Samantha on the reporting of the birth of Margie’s Market in Newtown.
Q: One reason why your story has resonated with so many readers is because your passion for this topic really came through in your writing. How did you approach this story? What guided your process in reporting it?
Samantha: Newtown is a community I’ve been covering for a while now, and I knew going in that this wasn’t just a grocery store opening – it was a long time coming for a neighborhood that has been overlooked for far too long.
I wanted to make sure readers felt that history before they ever got to the ribbon cutting.
My approach was always to let the people most affected by the food desert tell that story themselves — because no statistic captures what it means to finally have fresh food within walking distance of your home
Q. One of the clear themes in your story is that Margie’s Market in Newtown is about more than simply food — it’s also about empowerment. What are some other key things you’d like readers to take away from your story?
Samantha: I want readers to understand that food deserts are not accidents — they are by design. Newtown’s food insecurity doesn’t exist in isolation. It is the direct result of decades of deliberate policy decisions, including the construction of highways that physically bisected and isolated Black communities across Florida.
In 2021, I was a contributing reporter on a USA TODAY Florida Network USA TODAY Florida Network exploring exactly that — how infrastructure projects carved through neighborhoods like Overtown and Newtown, stripping them of economic opportunity and community connectivity in ways that communities are still recovering from nearly 100 years later.
Margie’s Market is meaningful precisely because it represents a community refusing to keep waiting for the systems that failed them to fix what they broke.
Food access is infrastructure. And when that infrastructure is deliberately withheld from a community for generations, getting it back is about far more than groceries. It is about dignity, equity and finally being seen.
Q. What’s the next potential chapter in this story?
Samantha: Margie’s Market is a start, but Newtown’s story isn’t finished.
I’ll be watching closely to see how the market performs, whether it inspires similar investment in other underserved Sarasota corridors and what it means long-term for food equity in this region.
There’s more reporting to do here.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Behind the story: Samantha Gholar on Margie’s Market in Newtown
Reporting by Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Sarasota Herald-Tribune | USA TODAY Network
