The Grocery Gap: Who Has Access to Healthy - The Food Trust

PolicyLinkThe Food Trustrestaurants have significantly higher rates ofpremature death from diabetes.4. New and improved healthy food retailin underserved communities createsjobs and helps to revitalize low-incomeneighborhoods. Though the economicimpacts of food retailers are understudied,we know that grocery stores contribute tocommunity economic development. Analysisof a successful statewide public-privateinitiative to bring new or revitalized grocerystores to underserved neighborhoods inPennsylvania provides positive evidence thatfresh food markets can create jobs, bolster localeconomies, and revitalize neighborhoods. Theeffort has created or retained 4,860 jobs in78 underserved urban and rural communitiesthroughout the state. Analyses of storessupported by the effort find they lead toincreased economic activity in surroundingcommunities.Implications for PolicyThe evidence is clear that many communities—predominantly low-income, urban communitiesof color and rural areas—lack adequate access tohealthy food, and the evidence also suggests thatthe lack of access negatively impacts the healthof residents and neighborhoods. These findingsindicate that policy interventions to increaseaccess to healthy food in “food deserts” willhelp people eat a healthy diet, while contributingto community economic development.For many years, impacted communities andtheir advocates have been implementinga variety of strategies to increase access tofresh, wholesome foods, including:• Attracting or developing grocerystores and supermarkets;• Developing other retail outlets suchas farmers’ markets, public markets,cooperatives, farmstands, communitysupportedagriculture programs, andmobile vendors (and ensuring publicbenefits can be used at these venues);• Increasing the stock of fruits, vegetables,and other healthy foods at neighborhoodcorner stores or small groceries;• Growing food locally through backyardand community gardens and largerscaleurban agriculture; and• Improving transportation to grocerystores and farmers’ markets.Improving access to healthy food is a criticalcomponent of an agenda to build an equitableand sustainable food system. It is time fora nationwide focus to ensure that healthyfood choices are available to all, buildingon these local efforts and innovations.Smart public policies and programs should supportcommunities in their efforts to develop, implement,and test strategies that increase healthy foodaccess. Government agencies at the local, state,and federal level should prioritize the issue ofinequitable food access in low-income, underservedareas. Programs and policies that are workingshould be expanded and new programs shouldbe developed to bring more grocery stores andother fresh food retail outlets to neighborhoodswithout access to healthy foods. Transportationbarriers to fresh food outlets should be addressed.Whenever possible, policies to address fooddeserts should link with comprehensive efforts tobuild strong regional food and farm systems.Residents of low-income communities andcommunities of color in urban and rural areashave suffered for too long from a lack ofaccess to healthy food. With local and stateprograms showing enormous promise, now isthe time for policymakers to enact policies thatwill catalyze the replication of local and stateinnovations and bring them to a national scale.9