Harnessing the Power of Supermarkets to Help ... - The Food Trust

CASE STUDY: the CAliFoRniA endoWMent’s Food RetAil
innovAtions
Perspectives from Marion Standish, Director, Community Health,
The California Endowment and Sarah Samuels, President, Samuels & Associates
With funding from the California Endowment, Samuels & Associates is evaluating the
Endowment’s six-year, multi-million dollar Healthy Eating, Active Communities program to
help six lower-income communities reshape their food and physical activity environments to
improve children’s health. Schools, community groups and health departments are collaborating
to create an environment for youth that seamlessly supports healthy eating throughout the
day—at school, after school, in the neighborhood and at home. 32 California has adopted nutrition
standards for products sold in schools, and many Healthy Eating, Active Communities are
partnering with neighborhood stores to adopt these same standards.
Healthy Eating, Active Communities has actively engaged young people, who have been a
powerful voice for change. Young people have assessed their local markets and used data to
inform the community, store owners and civic leaders about necessary changes. They have
created healthy food displays including creative, kid-friendly “Kid Healthy Choices” signs.
The evaluation of the program has shown the following changes in the amount of advertising for
healthy foods and beverages inside and outside of neighborhood stores between 2007 and 2009:
n Inside small neighborhood stores, the proportion of advertisements for healthy products
increased from 15 percent to 46 percent of all food and beverage advertisements (statistically
significant).
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