Healthy Corner Stores Network

Tell us about your corner store program!

May 7, 2013 in News & Events

Dear Healthy Corner Store Pioneer:

We want to document the hard work of this network by creating a national map of healthy corner stores. While we know our membership has reached over 600 in 2012, we don’t know how many healthy stores have been created. We believe that in order for the movement to continue to expand, it is critical for partners to know where each other is, and how many stores we have impacted to date.

Our goal is to generate 1) a map of stores, and 2) a brief, outlining major findings. We will list your agency as a contributor to both, and you will receive a copy of each when they are released this summer.

To provide your program’s information, please simply respond to this email with answers to the following 4 questions:

1)      What is the name of your corner store program/effort?
2)      How many stores are participating in your corner store program overall?
3)      Using the attached spreadsheet, please list the address of each store.
4) Any additional email addresses where a copy of the report or brief should be sent.

Please respond with your answers by Friday May 31. If you have any questions, please send an email to Deirdre Church at healthystore@thefoodtrust.org.

Thank you so much for your participation and for your amazing work to create healthy, thriving communities.

Sincerely,
The Food Trust on behalf of the Healthy Corner Stores Network

Access the full report here.

Philadelphia’s Healthy Corner Store Initiative: 2010-2012 Report

April 24, 2013 in News & Events, Reports, Resources

The Food Trust, a nationally recognized nonprofit, has developed the Philadelphia Healthy Corner Store Network, a citywide network of 600-plus corner stores committed to improving healthy food access in underserved communities. The Philadelphia Healthy Corner Store Network is part of the Healthy Corner Store Initiative, which works in partnership with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH) and their Get Healthy Philly initiative. Each corner store in the network added a minimum of four new products with at least two healthy products in at least two food categories including: fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy, lean meats and whole grains. Through the Healthy Corner Store Initiative, store in the network have received marketing materials, training and, in some cases, equipment to transform the businesses into health-promoting food retailers.

Watch the FOOD FIGHT video.

FOOD FIGHT: Cereal Mascot N’ the Hood.

April 17, 2013 in News & Events

Food Fight follows a kid on a journey through his homicidal food reality. The local corner store is killing his neighborhood — literally. From a Morpheus-like guide, he learns the reality behind the food he’s buying, and must decide to take the Orange Carrot Pill or the Red Bull Pill. Earth Amplified and New Message Media are proud to announce the launch of a comedic musical video, called Food Fight, and the accompanying school curriculum, designed to teach teens online and in the classroom about the realities of our food system.

Fresh, Healthy Food: Coming to a Corner Store Near You

April 8, 2013 in News, News & Events

At 30 years old, Brianna Almaguer Sandoval has transformed hundreds of Philadelphia-area corner stores into oases of fresh, healthy foods for low-resourced communities. Leading The Food Trust’s Healthy Corner Store Initiative, Brianna is forging a path-breaking and replicable new paradigm for corner stores, as she provides the education, tools, and financial support corner stores need to increase their availability of fresh fruits and vegetables. Under Brianna’s direction, the program has flourished from 11 stores to the nation’s largest corner store initiative with over 680 stores. Brianna has created the 21st century community-based blueprint to drive healthy eating habits and solve America’s critical food gap.

Watch the video here.

For more information about Growing Green, visit the NRDC website here.

Truly healthier ‘hoods?

July 18, 2012 in News, News & Events

Northeast Times Star, July 18, 2012.

Several of Philadelphia’s nutrition initiatives, including its Healthy Corner Stores Initiative, are profiled in this article. Currently 630 stores are participating in the program by adding at least four new healthy items to their shelves. One of Philadelphia’s healthy corner stores is profiled. The store owner interviewed reports that so far the healthy food has sold well: “People are very happy…More children are choosing grapes and watermelon and stuff.”

Tags: Food deserts, Philadelphia, Program Highlights, public health, Store Highlights, Urban No Comments »

Will Philadelphia’s experiment in eradicating ‘food deserts’ work?

June 8, 2012 in News, News & Events

The Washington Post, June 8, 2012.

Philadelphia has invested $900,000 into more than 600 corner stores, in an effort to help people make healthier eating choices. Philadelphia has the highest obesity rate and the most poor people of any big American city, and the city sees healthy corner store initiatives as one way to improve the food environment. In many ways, Philadelphia is seen as an epicenter of the efforts to improve public health by creating better access to healthy foods.

Although healthy food access projects seem to be gaining traction, research done to date on such food desert interventions has not clearly shown that access to healthy foods causes significant improvements in eating behavior or obesity rates. Government officials are carefully watching for new research to see if this strategy is a worthwhile investment. A new study being conducted in Philadelphia will have significant sway in these decisions.

Philadelphia is “conducting the largest study to date of what happens when nutritious options are introduced into neighborhoods that have traditionally gone without. It’s measuring what people bought before, what they’re eating now and whether that improves…. Temple University’s Center for Obesity Research is working with the city to study how shopping habits do, or don’t, change when healthy options are introduced. Last year, before stores added nutritious options, researchers stopped 7,000 shoppers on their way out of the store to look at their purchases. With the new foods now available, researchers are doing another 7,000 stops.”

The results of this study will be published in about a year.

Tags: Academic, Evaluation, Food deserts, Funding, obesity, Philadelphia, public health, Urban No Comments »

Kansas C-stores Join Salt Reduction Efforts

May 23, 2012 in News, News & Events

Convenience Store News, May 23, 2012.

The Shawnee County Health Agency in Topeka, Kansas, is working with convenience stores to reduce the community’s salt intake. In October 2012, the CDC awarded the state of Kansas a Sodium Reduction in Communities grant to work with Shawnee county. Grants were also awarded to New York City; Los Angeles; the state of California, to work with Shasta County; and the state of New York, to work with Broome and Schenectady counties. A Shawnee county public health educator said many convenience stores were resistant to participating at first, saying that customers don’t usually ask for low-sodium foods. But the stores that were interested in participating have been very enthusiastic about the process. Now, more than a dozen stores are participating in the project. The stores feature a stand-alone rack filled with healthy, low-sodium snack options near the front of the store. The organizers of the project will provide the racks, promotional signs, technical assistance, and advertising.

Tags: CDC, Funding, Kansas, Program Highlights, public health, salt No Comments »

Bodegas Become Frontlines Against Obesity

May 10, 2012 in News, News & Events

New Hampshire Public Radio, May 10, 2012.

This radio piece features Manchester Healthy Corner Stores, a pilot project organized by the Manchester Department of Public Health in New Hampshire. The project encourages bodegas to sell healthier foods, and to display these options prominently. A professional grocery consultant offered free advice to participating store owners, as part of the project. One of the challenges so far has been to figure out how to convince customers to buy healthier foods when they are surrounded by so many more unhealthy options.

The Healthy Corner Stores project is just one aspect of the public health department’s bigger plan to make Manchester more livable; it is also working to transform the built environment in a way that encourages people to be more active, adding crosswalks and installing traffic calming measures.

Tags: Food deserts, Manchester, obesity, Program Highlights, public health, radio, Store Highlights, Urban No Comments »