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Two Subway restaurants on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation are thriving.
From ABC News.Com
By ASTRID RODRIGUES
Oct. 14, 2011
When entering the vast 2.2 million acre expanse of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, it’s hard to miss the picturesque surroundings of windswept plains and sharply eroded foothills. But go deeper and prairieland too arid for farming and poverty that rivals that of the third world becomes apparent.
There is not a single mall, nor a movie theater, a big business, nor a bank on the South Dakota reservation. But in downtown Pine Ridge, a Subway restaurant franchise is busy all day long.
“We focused on Subway mainly because of the opportunity it offered in healthy eating,” said owner Bob Ecoffey, who opened his business in 2008.
Get Involved: How to Help the Children of the Plains
An area the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined, the reservation is considered a “food desert,” defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a low-income community without ready access to healthy and affordable food. Ecoffey, who is also the Bureau of Indian Affairs superintendent for the Pine Ridge Agency, tells ABC News that healthy foods like fresh fruits and vegetables are unavailable because of what he says are limited resources.
“The opportunity just doesn’t exist for many people across the reservation,” he said.
Ecoffey said Subway offers that opportunity.
Tashina Banks, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe, is the hiring manager at the Pine Ridge Subway. She shared with ABC News the story of an elder woman from the community who was moved to tears during the store’s grand opening week.
“She came in here and literally was crying because of what having this kind of a store or food restaurant in the community meant,” Banks said. “Not only because you see people investing in our own community, but also because, she said, ‘I haven’t eaten a cucumber in years because they’re so expensive.'”
There’s only one large supermarket and typically the price of staple items across the reservation are more expensive because of its remote location. read more…
