Urban Grocer Celebrates End Of State Grocery Sales Tax

Parts of Oklahoma City's wider downtown area face a lack of access to fresh food. 

Also known as a food desert, the USDA currently classifies urban neighborhoods as a "low-income and low-access" area.

Urban Agrarian, near Reno and Western, has been a downtown grocer for more than a decade. Longtime whispers of eliminating the state's grocery sales tax gave promise to co-owner Chelsey Simpson.

"A lot of people don't realize that if you're in the lower income bracket, you spend a higher percentage of your income, maybe as much as 30% on food," Simpson said. "Food is non-negotiable. People have to eat."

On Thursday, Oklahoma's grocery sales tax cut took effect after being signed into law in February. State leaders expect families could save nearly $400 each year.

The cut encourages Simpson, who faces her financial pressures as a small business. While some of her customers don't closely follow grocery prices, she said other customers count every penny.

"We've really had a hard time making ends meet lately, and I know that a lot of our customers feel the same way," she said. "We've tried to be honest with our customers about that and tell them that we're just sort of barely getting by and paying our staff and our bills. And we are one of many small businesses that find themselves in that position."

She hopes the dollars saved from the tax can empower more customers to shop locally.

"This is really going to impact people who are having a hard time affording their groceries," she said.