{"id":210080,"date":"2025-09-08T11:36:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T11:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/210080\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T11:36:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T11:36:18","slug":"south-dallas-grocery-delivery-program-from-bonton-farms-kroger-set-to-expand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/210080\/","title":{"rendered":"South Dallas grocery delivery program from Bonton Farms, Kroger set to expand"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Dallas<\/a> has experienced limited access to groceries, fewer homes with cars, and residents who have lower incomes than other parts of the city.<\/p>\n

But a program expanding at Bonton Farms is working to make life a bit easier for residents who have to slog their groceries in the heat of summer or wait to catch a bus.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still a food desert, but now the shift is you\u2019ve got working people who don\u2019t have to stop by the grocery store,\u201d said Mark Jones, president and CEO at Bonton Farms<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Barbara<\/p>\n

Barbara Weeks cooks bell peppers and tomatoes for grilled chicken flatbread during a free community cooking class called Cooking Up Connections at the Dallas Bethlehem Center on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. <\/p>\n

Angela Piazza \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

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Get the latest breaking news from North Texas and beyond.<\/p>\n

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Grocery Connect, a <\/b>program <\/b>started by Bonton Farms partnering with Kroger <\/b>in late 2023, is expanding its pickup locations. The program axes delivery fees for grocery pickup, and concierges walk community members through online ordering and clipping coupons. Residents can then pick up their orders at a central location. The first order comes with a $35 gift card.<\/p>\n

The products aren\u2019t picked over, Jones said, as they arrive from a distribution center. <\/b>The COVID-19 pandemic made online ordering more acceptable, opening an opportunity to benefit communities facing issues with food access, Jones said.<\/p>\n

That culture shift allows everybody to participate, Jones said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re able to provide fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh meat, all the things that you don\u2019t have access to in a food desert, accessible to you in a truck that just delivers it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In addition to pickups once a week at the Dallas Bethlehem Center and the Innercity Community Development Corporation, pickups are expected to expand to the Bonton Wellness Center, which opened earlier this year. A kickoff is planned for Oct. 7.<\/p>\n

Tony Monroe, a concierge with Grocery Connect, said he\u2019s been busy adding the third pickup spot into the mix. They\u2019re there to serve people from all walks of life, he said, from people who visit the pantry at the Bethlehem Center to those who have the means to venture out for premium groceries or work nearby but could use the convenience.<\/p>\n

\"Grocery<\/p>\n

Grocery Connect Concierge Tony Monroe jokes around with Gloria Rollerson during a free community cooking class called Cooking Up Connections at the Dallas Bethlehem Center on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. Susan Phillips, left, slices avocado for grilled chicken flatbread topping.<\/p>\n

Angela Piazza \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Monroe himself moved to the neighborhood from Oak Lawn. He doesn\u2019t have a car and said he soon realized the nearby conveniences he was missing, by comparison.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really tough,\u201d he said. \u201cWalking the streets with grocery bags in this heat, it changes your whole attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monroe said one man he helped use the Kroger app was a trucker who didn\u2019t have an email address. The man didn\u2019t know how to get to the texts on his phone to verify his account. Eventually, they got logged in and got the man\u2019s groceries.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was personal,\u201d Monroe said. \u201cHe sat there, and I learned that he likes the strawberry Nutri-Grain bars.\u201d <\/p>\n

Kenedi Houston, another concierge, said the program is more than just ordering on an app. They call customers \u201cconnections\u201d and can help them apply for resources like supplemental food benefits.<\/p>\n

Cooking Up Connections: A free South Dallas community cooking class partners with Grocery Connect <\/p>\n

\"GroceryView Gallery<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/p>\n

The program partners with a local chef for free cooking classes at the Bethlehem Center. Connected Dallas, also at the center, offers help with using technology and for skills like digital couponing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really like being that social support network, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re building organically with our customers,\u201d Houston said. \u201cNow, we have people who come to us for advice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program\u2019s website at groceryconnect.org<\/a> shows how those interested can participate.<\/p>\n

This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas<\/a>, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Dallas has experienced limited access to groceries, fewer homes with cars, and residents who have lower incomes…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":210081,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,1596,14055,50,14053,14054,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-210080","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-future-of-north-texas","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-south-dallas","13":"tag-southern-dallas","14":"tag-texas","15":"tag-tx","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115168476233744135","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}