Common Market is a regional food hub whose mission is to increase the availability of local, sustainably grown farm food throughout Philadelphia and surrounding areas. This case study provides an in-depth look at Common Market's growth and development, including efforts to build financial sustainability.
Healthy food marketing efforts have integrated approaches used by the grocery industry with academic research to create promising and feasible practices that make the healthy choice the easy choice.
Hear from experts about how these efforts, commonly referred to as in-store marketing strategies, are changing consumer behavior in grocery stores and supermarkets.
This webinar features the latest evidence from the field, and explore how new research is changing how the public purchases nutritious food. Healthy food marketing efforts are generating healthy outcomes for retailers and for consumers.
Too many residents of bi-state Kansas City lack sufficient access to healthy, affordable food. Despite being in the heart of one of the richest agricultural regions in the nation, bi-state Kansas City is home to many communities without supermarkets, grocery stores and other retailers of healthy food. Limited access to nutritious food is an issue in specific neighborhoods, such as Douglas Sumner in Kansas City, Kansas, and Ivanhoe and Marlborough in Kansas City, Missouri. To address these concerns, the Kansas City Grocery Access Task Force was convened by KC Healthy Kids, IFF and The Food Trust. The task force is a cohort of leaders from the grocery industry, state and local governments, as well as the community and economic development, public health and civic sectors. The task force developed nine recommendations for state and local public policies that will improve the availability of healthy, affordable food in underserved areas through the development of supermarkets and grocery stores.
Rural grocery stores anchor a community by supplying fresh foods and staples; creating local jobs; attracting complementary businesses; and increasing the tax base. Today they are under siege because of competition with “big box” stores for customers; high energy costs, the inability to buy products in small quantities; elderly owners with no succession plans, and low population density. This webinar explores the unique challenges that rural grocers face and discuss innovative solutions to improving access to healthy foods in rural America.
New research in a joint report by PolicyLink and The Food Trust, Access to Healthy Food and Why It Matters: A Review of the Research, underscores healthy food access as the foundation necessary for reaping the positive benefits associated with healthy food. The research reveals that improving healthy food access in low-income communities and communities of color continues to be an urgent need with nearly 30 million people living in low-income areas with limited access to supermarkets. The webinar features report authors along with a local government official. Speakers discuss how findings from the new report can be used to expand healthy food access in communities across the country.
The recent passage of the 2014 farm bill has spurred new discussion and attention to food and agriculture policy. In particular, the media has focused considerable attention on the issue of healthy food access, its relationship to obesity, and policies improving access to healthy, fresh food. Research demonstrates that without access to healthy food, a nutritious diet is out of reach. The following document responds to the recent media attention to the newly published Health Affairs article: “New Neighborhood Grocery Store Increased Awareness of Food Access But Did Not Alter Dietary Habits or Obesity,” and provides key responses to the media framing of the study and the policy implications.
Grocery stores and food co-ops can improve health outcomes, increase employment opportunities, spur economic development, and create access to opportunity for residents of low-income communities and communities of color. Integrating equity into your economic plan will help grow your grocery store or food co-op. This resource includes some strategies to increase store profits by buildinga sustainable community of opportunity where everyone can participate and prosper.
Food hubs have the potential to create a more equitable food system that values quality jobs, healthy food access, local economic growth, small business development, and sustainable agriculture. Food hubs designed with these equity considerations can provide opportunities for growers and producers, aggregators and distributors, and the consumer. This resource outlines strategies for developing profitable, equitable food hubs that create more just, fair, and inclusive food systems and local economies.