![]() In a stressed food system, some consumers found it easier than others to adapt certainly those who could get to the grocery store or access food delivery services were in a better position than those isolated by transit cuts, costly privatized transportation, and caregiving obligations. The incredibly wild spread in results may also simply reflect that healthy corner stores work better in some areas and contexts more than others, and are not a one-size-fits-all public health intervention. (This tendency might partly explain the recent closure of Community Foods Market, the first full-service grocery store in West Oakland). And research suggests that in some communities, residents are simply in the habit of going further afield, whether relying on transit, personal vehicles, or rides from friends, to access a wider variety of foods. Other factors can include available time, disability status, family size, social relationships, and personal preferences, which may not be solvable with broccoli at the corner store. ![]() Some researchers report success with healthy corner store programs, while others have found them ineffective overall, the landscape of conversations about food apartheid is changing as researchers and advocates realize that distance from a grocery store is not the sole determiner of diet. “ have been comfortable because we speak their language, we’re from their community, a lot of us will interact at mosque and social events,” said Lina Ghanem, Director and Founder of Saba, on how she connects with other store owners.Īll this sounds promising, but evidence for such programs is quite mixed. But success is heavily dependent on building rapport and trust. Refrigeration isn’t the only change: Stores can use the grants to add signage, advertise fresh products, and leverage double up programs, which allow customers to double their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. For stores and customers alike, the program also helps build community, and survival during the pandemic. She told us, ‘I am so excited that I don’t have to drive over the hill and 10 miles down the road to get fresh food,’” added Butler. “One person regularly shops over half an hour away. She works with stores in rural California, where residents often work on farms, but have notoriously low access to fruits and vegetables themselves. “These places are really central to communities,” said Rochelle Butler of San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy Organization. A Popular Intervention, with Mixed Results In Talib’s case, demand is growing quickly enough that he anticipates expanding his produce refrigeration by the end of the year. Once stores have refrigeration in place, they’re encouraged to prioritize California-grown produce, including greens, nuts, and fruits. “Many of the stores don’t have any kind of refrigeration that would allow them to sell fresh produce,” said Juan Vila, a senior associate with the Community Food Retail Team at the Food Trust, who is based in San Jose. The grants help bridge a gap between what store owners want to offer their communities and what they are able to do on their own. But whether that will be enough to really tackle food access in a meaningful way across the state is yet to be seen. ![]() The state has been expanding the program since its inception in 2018 it awarded $2.8 million the first year, $1.6 million the second year, and then a 2021 bill allocated $20 million to healthy corner stores for 2022. ![]() The program, which offers grants to individual stores as well as organizations, is using corner stores and small markets to expand access to fresh foods for residents of communities experiencing food apartheid, a shortage of access to fresh, diverse foods affecting some 17.4 percent of Americans. Saba is supported in part by California’s Healthy Refrigeration Grant Program, administered by the state’s Office of Farm to Fork. Saba lets him order what he needs, on a schedule that works for him. Talib stressed that both were critical for him he had tried buying produce in bulk for his customers, but was quickly overwhelmed with food waste because he couldn’t buy in small volumes. The store is a participant in Saba Grocers, an East Bay initiative that connects store owners with refrigeration for fresh produce and distribution so they can keep those fridges stocked. (Photo courtesy of Saba Grocers Initiative) Anmar Talib stocks the fresh produce fridge at the Jalisco Market in Oakland, California.
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