Rural Oklahoma residents get creative to put food on the table without making long trek to the store

Residents in some communities either have a grocery store that must charge high prices but offers limited options or have no grocery store at all. These people are finding creative ways to get the foods they need without having to overpay or travel long distances. One such example is Leedey, Okla., couple Donita and Lee Blackketter, who raise or grow most of the foods they eat, Jaclyn Cosgrove reports for The Oklahoman. (Wikipedia map: Leedey is in Dewey County. The northwestern corner of the county is considered a food desert; see map below)

"For beef, they slaughter one of the cows they raised on their 360 acres. For vegetables during the summer, they grow a garden," Cosgrove writes. They make the 30-mile trip to the grocery store for any other items they might need, including purchasing frozen vegetables during the winter.

Donita has also learned to get creative in the kitchen, Cosgrove writes. If she lacks an ingredient, she doesn't make the long journey to the store for just one item. Instead, she told Cosgrove, "You go online, and you Google, and you find a substitute.” (Read more)