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Healthy Community Store National Network

Members

Beth Baker: Garden of Eden, St Louis University School of Public Health
Hannah Burton: Supermarket and Corner Store Campaigns for The Food Trust
Irene Ross : Youth Envision, Literacy for Environmental Justice
Joel Gittelsohn: Healthy Stores Project at the Center for Human Nutrition, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Sonya Grier: Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholars Program, University of Pennsylvania
Dana Harvey: West Oakland Food Collaborative
Arnell Hinkle: CANFIT
Velma LaPoint: Department of Human Development and Psychoeducational Studies, Howard University
Rebecca E. Lee: Department of Health and Human Performance, University of Houston
Jessica Reich: Food Quality Policy, California Food Policy Advocates
Jennifer Stokes: Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project
Serena Yao & Sabrina Lenoir: Bronx Healthy Hearts. Institute for Urban Family Health
Jamie B. Bussel: Childhood Obesity Program, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Kathy Cunningham: Boston STEPS Program, Boston Public Health Commission
Vivien Morris and John Cook: Nutrition and Fitness for Life Program, Boston Medical Center
LaDonna Redmond: Chicago Food Systems Collaborative, Institute for Community Resource Development
Jerome Williams: Department of Advertising, University of Texas at Austin
Rebecca Flournoy: Health and Community Factors, PolicyLink
Anaa Reese: Alameda Department of Public Health

Member Bios and Program Descriptions

Garden of Eden: Beth Baker (Saint Louis University School of Public Health) and Jennifer Strayhorn (HopeBuild)

The Garden of Eden program brings together expertise from local community members, business leaders, faith communities, academicians, and state and local minority health agencies. Together, the partners have developed program activities designed to prevent obesity by helping individuals change lifestyle behaviors and by fostering community infrastructures that support healthful choices.

The Garden of Eden program incorporates the use of nutrition and fitness advocates from urban African American communities to engage other community members in activities geared toward health improvement. Examples of program activities include: developing a community-run produce market; increasing knowledge and skills regarding nutrition and physical activity; and developing a community dialogue regarding the association between community infrastructures and personal behavior.

The specific aims of the project are numerous and include the following:

Increase consumption of fruits and vegetables;
Decrease consumption of dietary fat;
Increase physical activity; and
Increase community knowledge and skills required to run a produce market

The Food Trust and Hannah Burton

The mission of The Food Trust is to ensure that everyone has access to affordable, nutritious food. Specifically, The Food Trust’s Corner Store Campaign seeks to reduce the incidence of diet-related disease and obesity by improving the snack food choices made by adolescents in corner stores. In Philadelphia, elementary school students report that they visit corner stores daily, spending up to $2 per visit on foods high in fat and sugar: chips, candy, soda, French fries, and hamburgers.

The Corner Store Campaign uses social marketing and education to increase demand for healthy snacks, works with the food industry to increase the availability of healthier choices in stores, and promotes participation in the school meals programs.

Literacy for Environmental Justice – Youth Envision and Irene Ross

Literacy for Environmental Justice’s mission is to foster an understanding of the principles of environmental justice (right of all people to their basic needs: clean water, healthy food, non-toxic communities, open space, safe energy, and equitable educational and job opportunities) and urban sustainability in our young people in order to promote the long-term health of their communities. LEJ creates positive, school and community-based opportunities for young people to play a role in the determination of their neighborhoods. Specifically, the Youth Envision program works to improve food access in Bayview Hunter’s Point. The Youth Envision program employs and trains 7-10 high school-aged youth per year as community organizers around Bayview's food security and environmental justice initiatives. This program is in partnership with:

Tobacco Free Project of SF Department of Public Health
Seven Principles of SF Department of Public Health
SF District 10 Supervisor, Sophie Maxwell
SF Department of Environment
SF Redevelopment Agency
SF Mayor’s Office of Economic Development
SF Mayor’s Office of Community Development
SF Power Coop
California Endowment

Youth work 2-4 days per week and participate in an intensive program that includes:

Community-based needs assessments
Nutrition & cooking education
Merchant education
Consumer education
Public advocacy
Partnership building
Workshop facilitation for both youth and adults

Healthy Stores Projects and Joel Gittelsohn

The Healthy Stores projects (www.healthystores.org) aim to improve health and prevent obesity and other diet-related chronic diseases in low-income minority communities through culturally appropriate store-based interventions that increase the supply of healthy foods and promote their purchase. Healthy Stores projects have been and are being conducted in many locations, including: the White Mountain and San Carlos Apache in Arizona, with Native Hawaiians in Hawaii, on the Republic of the Marshall Islands, with First Nations in Canada, and in Baltimore, Maryland

Robert Wood Johnson Healthy and Society Scholars Program and Sonya Grier

Sonya Grier is currently a member of the first cohort of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholars program at the University of Pennsylvania. The interdisciplinary fellowship is designed to build the nation's capacity for research, leadership and action to address the broad range of social factors affecting health. Dr. Grier is also a Senior Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (LDI) at the University of Pennsylvania. She is on leave from her position as an Assistant Professor at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, where she teaches courses on Advertising, Social Marketing and Non-profit Marketing.

Dr. Grier’s research converges on topics related to the influence of social context on consumer response, and the social impact of marketing efforts. She examines how social dynamics, especially with regard to race and ethnicity, influence how consumers interpret, explain, and respond to marketing efforts both within, and across cultures and countries. Her current research investigates the relationship between marketing efforts, both corporate and social, and consumer health-related attitudes and behaviors. In particular, she is examining the role of marketing and marketing-related public policy in perpetuating and ameliorating health disparities in obesity. For example, one project aims to assess mechanisms by which marketing activities serve as a contextual factor influencing obesity. Dr. Grier also has practical food industry experience, having worked in Market Research at Kraft, Incorporated, and in Brand Management at General Foods USA.

West Oakland Food Collaborative and Dana Harvey

The West Oakland Food Collaborative (WFOC) views food security through an environmental justice and public health lens. WOFC designed, and is implementing, an innovative and comprehensive model that addresses food security symptoms – such as limited access to affordable and culturally appropriate foods – as well as underlying conditions that disproportionately burden low-income and minority community members – such as economic disempowerment and political disenfranchisement.

WOFC focuses on 5 key areas: Access, Economic Development, Community Health, Education and Collaboration through projects that include:

Mandela Farmers Market
Grown from the vision of Mo’ Better Food and the African American Farmers Association bringing fresh produce, grown using organic and sustainable methods, directly from African American Farmers to the inner-cities, Mandela Farmers Market brings together ethnic family farmers, and local vendors, musicians and artists to promote local economic growth and empowerment. Mandela Market particularly serves low-income residents by accepting WIC farmers market vouchers, food stamps, a free shuttle service and affordable prices.

Neighborhood Greening
The mission is to improve community health and well-being by increasing access to community-owned gardens, parks, playgrounds and greenspace. An alternative open garden and greenspace model spearheaded by community members in West Oakland, these spaces are open, community-owned nutrition gardens, exercise and play areas that enhance community health and aesthetics. Neighborhood Greening works with residents to design and build space that meets neighborhood-based needs.

Corner/Convenience Stores
The Food Collaborative outreaches to neighborhood markets on two levels: one, to provide fresh produce and healthful snack choices in their stores; and (2) to work with store owners with to identify alternative, profitable business choices to alcohol, candy and drug sales, and assist stores in conversion. We are developing a conversion prototype with Neighbors Market that now carries a selection of fresh produce and healthful snack choices, and is shifting from beer/wine sales into a full-service deli. It is our goal that, as more stores sign on to carry more healthful products, we will help launch a locally-owned, small scale food distribution business.

Soul Foods Cooperative
West Oakland is facing fast change, growth and development. This shines a positive economic light on the community, but also poses a threat to the local culture and deep-rooted ethnic community. As developers see the potential, they propose to bring quick and easy, "bottom line" focused business — including franchise businesses and large chain stores. Soul Foods, on the other hand, sees this as the ideal time to build, reflect, honor and develop local business talent and vision.

MicroBusiness Development
Produce and food distribution and delivery businesses, and making available a commercial kitchen for home-based business expansion, and the Mandela MarketPlace.

California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness (CANFit) Program and Arnell Hinkle

The California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness (CANFit) Program is a statewide, non-profit organization whose mission is to engage communities and build their capacity to improve the nutrition and physical activity status of low-income African American, American Indian, Latino, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander youth 10-14 years old. The main components of CANFit are:

Providing training and technical assistance to youth serving organizations, funders, government entities, and others working to improve nutrition and physical activity and prevent obesity in low-income communities of color;
Developing, evaluating and disseminating culturally-appropriate nutrition and physical activity educational materials, and social marketing programs;
Advocating for policies that enhance nutrition and physical activity in after-school and community settings; and
Awarding academic scholarships.

Howard University and Velma LaPoint, PhD; Associate Professor; Department of Human Development and Psychoeducational Studies

Dr. LaPoint’s research activities, related to the Healthy Community Stores National Network (HCSNN), focus on commercialism influences in the lives of children, families, and communities. Within a broad ecological context of child development and the role of marketing, Dr. LaPoint is conducting research in two areas: (a) the prevention and reduction of overweight and obesity among Black adolescent girls and (b) fashion and dress behavior among youth in schools and other community settings (e.g., fashion often cross-marketed with low-nutritious foods). Both areas have specific applications to Black youth where targeted commercial messages in media venues interface with the economic and psychosocial status of Black youth and contribute to health challenges—contributing to various health disparities among youth populations. Given the HCSNN mission, Dr. LaPoint is interested in changing (a) societal and community institutions relating to marketing and food distribution and (b) consumer knowledge, attitudes, and behavior towards a healthier lifestyle among youth, families, and communities especially in underserved communities. Toward this goal, Dr. LaPoint is also a Steering Committee member of the Campaign for Commercial Free Childhood at the Judge Baker Children’s Center, Harvard University.

The UNDO Research Team and Dr. Rebecca E. Lee

The Understanding Neighborhood Determinants of Obesity (UNDO) research team is committed to identifying and modifying environmental determinants of physical activity, dietary habits, and obesity. Overweight and obesity have become normative health conditions in the United States (US). Ecological models suggest that environmental factors, such as lacking places to do physical activity or find healthful food, promote obesity and poor health. Environmental factors may transcend and modify individual and cultural factors, suggesting that manifest solutions to common human challenges differ depending on environment. Neighborhood environments that do not support physical activity and healthy dietary habits make it difficult for citizens to maintain healthy weights, regardless of individual or cultural attributes. Dr. Rebecca Lee leads the UNDO research team and leads several ongoing projects.

Environmental Correlates of Physical Activity and Dietary Habits of Residents in Public Housing is a three year project, funded in part by the Active Living Research program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The goal of the project is to define and document environmental correlates of physical activity, dietary habits and obesity. To do that, we are systematically assessing all public physical activity spaces (like parks, schools, community centers, etc.), food sources (stores and restaurants) and pedestrian-related, street scale elements (like sidewalks, tree coverage, etc.) in neighborhoods surrounding 14 public housing developments in Houston, TX. Next we are assessing the physical activity, dietary habits and obesity of residents. Then we will correlate the environmental factors with the individual behavior using hierarchical and spatial modeling techniques.

Maintaining Physical Activity in Ethnic Minority Women is a five year project funded by the National Cancer Institute. The goals of the project are to (1) compare the efficacy of a social cohesion walking intervention with an educational comparison control in African American women in Houston, (2) Determine whether women in the social cohesion group who live in a high supportive of physical activity neighborhood maintain physical activity at higher levels in comparison to those who live in a low supportive neighborhood, and (3) determine whether the social cohesion intervention and the effect of the highly supportive neighborhood is replicable in a second sample of Hispanic women in Austin. This is a collaborative project involving the University of Houston and the University of Texas at Austin.

California Food Policy Advocates and Jessica Reich

California Food Policy Advocates is a statewide public policy and advocacy organization dedicated to improving the health and well being of low-income Californians by increasing their access to nutritious and affordable food.
As California's only statewide anti-poverty program with a focus on hunger, malnutrition and obesity prevention among low-income people, CFPA employs a variety of strategies to develop and implement public policies that recognize the value of adequate nutrition and its fundamental contribution to good health and development, education and productivity. These strategies include:

Research that demonstrates the scope and nature of hunger and obesity in California and the efficacy of public and private food programs in mitigating it.
Development and promotion of strategies and programs to meet the nutrition needs of low-income communities and individuals.
Public education and advocacy to ensure the inclusion of nutrition in the formation and implementation of sound public policy.
Technical assistance, training and support to low-income communities in their efforts to identify and overcome nutrition-related deficiencies.

Collaboration, through conferences, communication and coalition-building, among food program providers and other community-based organizations throughout California to facilitate their working together to mitigate hunger, obesity and poverty.

Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project and Jennifer Stokes

The Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project LDC (MARP) is a not-for-profit commercial revitalization organization whose mission is to restore the “Main Street” of the Fort Greene/ Clinton Hill community to a bustling, economically vital neighborhood commercial corridor that provides entrepreneurial, cultural, recreational, and employment opportunities for all those who live, work, study or have an interest in the area.

MARP’s “Buy Fresh: Improving Fort Greene/ Clinton Hill’s Food Supply” project addresses the gap in the neighborhood food system between what residents (particularly low-income residents) need and what is currently available to them. By working with existing merchants and local food assistance programs, MARP is involved in a community-based comprehensive approach that bridges the need for quality food, and the inadequate supply provided by the local merchants.

Institute for Urban Family Health: Bronx Health REACH and Serena Yao/Sabrina Lenoir

The Institute for Urban Family Health spearheads the Bronx Health REACH Coalition (www.institute2000.org), which is funded by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Bronx Healthy Hearts, funded by the New York State Department of Health. The Bronx Health REACH Coalition is made up of over 40 community partners and organizations, including housing and faith-based organizations, after-school programs, elected officials and health care professionals working together to end racial and ethnic disparity in health care in the southwest Bronx, NY. The coalition activities include: raising awareness about health disparities, health education with an emphasis on diabetes and heart disease, and legislative advocacy to enact changes in the health care delivery system.

The Bronx Health REACH Coalition has made nutrition and fitness programs a priority. Programs that are part of the Coalition’s initiatives include: (1) the Bronx Grocer Outreach Program, and (2) the Bronx Healthy Hearts Restaurant Program. The Grocer Outreach Program is focused on improving the health of Bronx community members by working to increase access to healthier foods, including low-fat milk and high-fiber bread. This will be accomplished by recruiting local corner stores to join Bronx Health REACH and to stock their shelves with healthier food items. In return, the stores will receive increased promotion and visibility through the Coalition and within the neighborhood.

The Bronx Healthy Hearts Restaurant Program is committed to improving the cardiovascular health of Bronx residents. The Program involves working with local, family-owned restaurants to promote the healthier menu items. A local chef consultant was hired to work with the kitchen staff and owners to assess current cooking methods and make recommendations for healthy modifications. There are continuous promotional efforts to increase community awareness about the restaurants and their “Tasty and Healthy” menu.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Jamie B. Bussel

Established in 1972, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based in Princeton, N.J. is the largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care in the United States. Our grant-making is concentrated in four areas: to assure that all Americans have access to quality health care at reasonable cost, to improve the quality of care and support for people with chronic health conditions, to promote healthy communities and lifestyles and to reduce the personal, social and economic harm caused by substance abuse — tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs.

One of our new initiatives is childhood obesity. To battle America's obesity epidemic, the Foundation is working to create activity-friendly communities through its active living work, to promote more physical activity and better nutrition in schools, and to conduct research to determine which policies and programs are most effective in helping families make healthier choices. Our vision for the future is that schools will make healthy foods available for all children and provide opportunities for meaningful daily physical activity; that communities will provide convenient access to affordable nutritious foods and safe places for play; and finally that families will have the knowledge and support to help children adopt healthy lifestyles. We have drafted an action plan that addresses the need for action, the need for evidence, and the need for leadership and public will to create solutions. I am interested in learning more about the issues around retail food access as a means of addressing the obesity crisis and thinking creatively about how to make healthful foods more accessible to low income minority populations, our focus.

Boston STEPS Program and Kathy Cunningham

Boston Steps is a large CDC grant (Steps to a Healthier US) to reduce the burden of diabetes, asthma, and obesity for the residents of a targeted area of Boston.

Our health promotion frame work is 5-2-1-0 for better health, emphasizing interventions to support residents in eating at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, limiting children's TV and screen time to 2 hours or less a day, engaging in regular physical activity for at least 1 hour per day and 0 tobacco use. For residents at risk or diagnosed with diabetes or asthma, we are working toward better provider-patient communication, reduced risk exposures and increased access to community and school support.

To manage this work we have specific teams working on target areas. Our collaboration fits well with the objectives of our Healthy Eating Team. Under this team we are working on two objectives: One- Healthy Eating: Support healthy eating by working with restaurants, supermarkets, local grocers, community groups and other stakeholders to improve residents’ access to healthy foods. Two- Community Nutrition Education: Provide on-going programs that offer age and culturally-competent information and education to community residents about healthy diets, including food purchasing, preparation and eating out.

Kathy Cunningham’s role with this grant is Sr. Program Manager/RD. She is working on many of the nutrition and community education activities.

Nutrition and Fitness for Life Program and Vivien Morris and John Cook

Beginning Steps to Developing a Corner Store Intervention in Boston

The Cost of a Healthy Diet Project (CHDP) is a collaborative effort between two of Boston Medical Center’s pediatric nutrition programs (The Grow Clinic and The Nutrition and Fitness for Life Program (NFLP)). This effort is collecting and analyzing food pricing data from a sample of small, medium and large grocery stores in Boston’s inner-city neighborhoods. The CHDP data will be used to determine the cost of purchasing a Thrifty Food Plan diet (USDA) as well as a diet that is healthier, meeting American Heart Association dietary guidelines. CHDP will then determine whether current food stamp allotments allow low income families to afford healthy diets utilizing local food stores. The NFLP is also partnering with the Boston Public Health’s Commission’s STEPS initiative to positively impact food selection practices in inner-city communities as a means to reduce health risks associated with obesity, diabetes and asthma. A broader community food nutrition assessment is being planned. The STEPS team is investigating alternative approaches to supporting related community nutrition education and policy initiatives.

Institute for Community Resource Development (ICRD) and the Chicago Food Systems Collaborative and LaDonna Redmond

The mission of the Institute for Community Resource Development (ICRD) in Chicago, Illinois is to rebuild the local food system. ICRD projects include: building grocery stores that bring access to sustainable products to urban communities of color, organizing farmers markets, converting vacant lots to urban farm sites, and distributing locally grown produce to restaurants.
ICRD is a founding partner of the Chicago Food Systems Collaboration (CFSC): a community and university partnership that examines food access in Chicago. CFSC has a research component that examines community access to food in urban and rural communities. CFSC has examined food access and its impact in grocery stores, a local farmers market, and schools.
The ultimate goal of CFSC is to build a locally owned grocery that provides access to healthy, high-quality foods including fruits and vegetables to urban residents.

LaDonna Redmond is president and CEO of the ICRD. A community activist and mother of a child with severe food allergies, Redmond began researching the food system in order to feed her son. Through her work, she discovered that people in urban communities want, but have limited access to, healthy food. This discovery led Redmond to get Chicago Public Schools to evaluate access to junk food in schools and create a task force to examine the potential of other pilot changes, such as connecting farmers to schools. Her discoveries also have led the Mayor of Chicago to consider urban agriculture as a good use of urban space.

LaDonna is a 2003 Food and Society policy fellow. The FAS fellowship is a professional fellowship supported by the Kellogg Foundation.

The University of Texas Austin Department of Advertising and Dr. Jerome D. Williams

Dr. Williams is a professor in the College of Communication, Department of Advertising, at the University of Texas at Austin (UT). He holds a joint appointment in the Center for African and African American Studies. Prior to joining UT in the fall of 2003, he was the Director of the Center for Marketplace Diversity and a Marketing Professor in the Howard University Business School.

Dr. Williams’ research interests cover a number of areas in the consumer marketing domain, with particular emphasis on ethnic minority marketing. He has conducted a number of studies and published articles related to consumer behavior involving marketing communications strategies. Dr. Williams has been particularly interested in investigating the conceptual, theoretical, methodological, and applied aspects of special market segments, e.g., adolescents, ethnic minorities, gender segments, multicultural segments, consumer segments in other countries, etc.

In the area of health and nutrition, Dr. Williams is examining the application of social marketing to reducing health disparities and promoting healthy living, primarily by promoting diet and exercise, particularly among ethnic minorities. In addition to investigating the effects of commercial target marketing practices on minority communities, He is also interested in looking at ways the environment can be changed, e.g., billboard impact, community stores, school programs, farmers’ markets, etc.

Just recently Dr. Williams was appointed to serve on an Institute of Medicine Committee of Food Marketing and the Diets of Children and Youth. The work of this Committee is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in response to a Congressional directive.