Produce stand, juice bar sourcing from local farms opening in Conway, SC food desert
As the pastor of a local church, Cheryl Adamson isn’t your typical business owner.
But her business — locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables — reflects her values and beliefs by giving back and supporting her local community. That’s why she’s bringing back CHOPS Produce & Cannery to her home of Conway. The store was open for three years before the pandemic forced it close for 18 months.
“I asked the Lord. ‘Well, what should I do now?’ And he said, ‘Take what’s in your hand,‘” said Adamson, the pastor of the Palmetto Missionary Baptist Church. “And what was in our hand was four raised garden beds at the church and three raised garden beds in the community of the kids that we serve, and then we had eight raised garden beds in the community garden.”
Much of the seasonal produce sold at CHOPS is grown at gardens and farms in Conway. On a recent visit, the store had onions, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, pineapples and a dozen other options. In one corner sat some sugar cane, a gift from a local farmer who wanted to showcase the staple that has grown in the region for centuries.
The produce store is located in a USDA-defined food desert, meaning that at least 1/3 of the local population lives at least 1 mile from a large grocery store. The store will accept SNAP EBT, the electronic payment system used for government food assistance.
“This neighborhood is surrounded by convenience stores, fast food restaurants,” Adamson said. “That puts the community in jeopardy, because the choices that they have for food are highly processed, high sugar, high fat, high salt content. Many people in the African-American community have chronic diseases that puts them in jeopardy anyway, so then bad food on top of it makes it even worse.”
The store’s opening is Saturday, Oct. 9.
Black-owned businesses
Adamson didn’t want the space to just be about selling groceries. She also wanted it to provide jobs for the local community, especially Black-owned businesses. She has two other businesses that operate inside. Both businesses are owned by Black women.
The shop also features a juice bar, called Juice Crush, which is named because menu items have a theme of the different stages of a romantic crush. Drinks include “The ‘Good Morning’ Text,” “Just a Fling” and “’Like a Virgin’ Detoxifier.” Juice Crush, run by sisters Labria Strong and Shaquasia Coleman, also sells infused spring waters and smoothies.
“You have some crush who’s ‘Playing Games’ and not doing what you want them to do or it’s not going the way you need it to go,” Strong said. “Or when you do get that crush you’re ‘Boo’d Up’ now or maybe it’s ‘Just a Fling.’”
Strong and Coleman decided to open the juice bar after making various concoctions to help their mother, Edna Strong, when she was going through chemotherapy a few years ago. All of the drinks focus on helping with health problems commonly faced by Black residents, like blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes and joint pain, Strong said.
“Our target audience has always been to assist with the African American community, with us getting better,” Strong said. “When we got the opportunity to come into it a (food) desert community, we definitely took” the chance to help.
The shop isn’t all about fruit, though. It’s home to the Bling Tee Boutique, selling bedazzled shirts and clothes operated by Kylie Kinsale.
“That will bring in a wider variety of people into our store,” Adamson said. “The three businesses will be thriving together. So, what we’re doing is not only providing fresh fruits and vegetables and healthy fare, but we’re also serving as a as a business incubator for young women in our community.”
Details
CHOPS Produce and Cannery is located at 505 Church St., Conway, SC. For details, go to facebook.com/CHOPSproduce/.
This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
