San Francisco’s Healthy Corner Store Movement: Getting it Right

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from Civil Eats:


San Francisco’s Healthy Corner Store Movement: Getting it Right
By Susana Hennessey Lavery on July 4, 2014


Despite its reputation as a Mecca of farmers markets and foodie culture, San Francisco is also home to quite a few people who lack access to good, whole food. In the low-income Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood, for instance, residents have an 8- to 14-year decreased life expectancy compared to their neighbors in other parts of the city. This is due in large part to diet-related illnesses like diabetes, congestive heart failure, hypertension and other types of heart disease. In addition, nearly 42 percent of adults in San Francisco are overweight or obese, and only one-third of those adults eat three or more servings of fruit and vegetables each day.

As in most of the rest of the country, the problem is exacerbated by the fact that unhealthy food, beverages, alcohol, and tobacco products are disproportionately promoted in low-income neighborhoods or food “swamps”—areas with a lot of food but not much that is healthy.

A Community Responds

Alarmed by the growing nutrition-related illnesses in their community and inspired by a 2006 city-wide summit on dietary disparities, a large group of Bayview residents, community-based organizations, city agencies and others formed a working group called Southeast Food Access Working Group (SEFA). The goal was to create a “vibrant and robust food system” for people living in Bayview-Hunters Point by improving food access and diets through awareness and education, and developing community gardens.

SEFA’s first priority was to improve healthy food and retail grocery options in the neighborhood. In 2007, its members conducted and released a survey of resident food preferences that clearly showed a strong demand for healthy retail options. They also found significant retail “leakage” of $38 million as more than half of the survey respondents frequently traveled outside the neighborhood to buy groceries. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://civileats.com/2014/07/04/san-franciscos-healthy-corner-store-movement-getting-it-right/#sthash.7s8bb65I.dpuf