A city-backed grocery store is serving up an answer to food insecurity in downtown Atlanta and should be emulated nationally, Mayor Andre Dickens told Newsweek .

Dickens envisions Azalea Fresh Market at 25 Peachtree Street as a transformative community hub rather than a place to simply pick up fresh food at affordable prices. Nearly three months after the launch of Atlanta's first municipal grocery store, the recently reelected mayor says the public-private collaborative effort is flourishing and ought to inspire imitators throughout the country.

"This is something that's kind of personal," Dickens told Newsweek during an interview on Wednesday. "When you start to see areas of your city have food deserts, where you can't get fresh groceries without traveling quite a distance, it beco

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