The Plan to End Childhood Hunger

Increase families’ access to fresh produce

It is hard to provide children with good nutrition when healthy food is hard to come by in the neighborhood, or when fresh produce is too expensive. In neighborhoods where many of the District’s poor and working class families live, the only food available is from “corner stores” that do not typically offer the fresh produce that full-service supermarkets bring to other areas…or it is priced out of reach. These areas are commonly referred to as “food deserts”.

D.C. Hunger Solutions is working to find and implement creative solutions to this challenge. With the support of the D.C. Department of Health, we launched the D.C. Healthy Corner Store Program, a campaign that brings together community members and corner store owners to increase availability of fresh produce and other healthy foods and beverages in neighborhood stores. With continued Department of Health support, D.C. Hunger Solutions also will work with the business community and District government to encourage supermarket growth where it is needed most – particularly east of the Anacostia River. To guide this important work, we have released two reports: “Healthy Food, Healthy Communities” and “Creating Healthy Corner Stores in the District of Columbia.”

We will continue leading the Farmers Market Collaborative to find ways to make it easier for farmers from the region to get their produce to low-income consumers. D.C. Hunger Solutions will continue convening the Healthy Affordable Food for All Coalition, a coalition of advocates, service providers and local food activists working to increase access to nutritious food in all D.C. neighborhoods.

Since 2006 with D.C. Hunger Solutions in the lead we have:

• Written and released (through the Mayor’s Commission on Food and Nutrition) “Healthy Food, Healthy Communities,” an assessment of community food security across the District.
• Formed the Healthy Affordable Food for All Coalition to promote ways of bringing nutritious foods to low-income communities, particularly “food deserts.”
• Re-established the D.C. Farmers’ Market Collaborative and developed plans to better serve low-income consumers with farmers’ markets. (Eleven local markets now are accepting food stamps.)
• With funding from the D.C. Department of Health, D.C. Hunger Solutions launched a Healthy Corner Store Program to bring more healthy foods into small neighborhood stores. This included conducting inventories of corner stores and interviews with store owners to assess barriers and determine ways to shift toward healthier fare; conducting in-store nutrition demonstrations; creating healthy food ads and a guide for store owners; and releasing a report of the first year of the program.

2009-2010 Goals:

Residents of low-income communities that lack supermarkets or other sources of reasonably priced, good quality fresh produce will enjoy improved access to healthy foods in their neighborhoods.

2009-2010 Action Plan:

• Analyze grocery store access across the city to identify “food deserts” and assess market potential to support additional full-service grocery stores.
• Promote and support farmers’ markets in food deserts by promoting the acceptance of Food Stamps and WIC and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program benefits at area markets.
• Expand the Healthy Corner Store Program Campaign at 10-12 stores in Wards 7 and 8 to expand the availability of affordable fresh fruits and vegetables in corner (convenience) stores in low-income communities.
• Identify new opportunities to bring fresh produce (e.g., green carts, community-supported agriculture, micro-enterprise, etc.) to low-income communities and food deserts.
• Intensify the work of the Healthy Affordable Food for All Coalition to explore city-wide strategies to bring healthy food to underserved communities.

Measures of Success

• Increase the number of food stamp customers who shop at farmers’ markets (grow the rates at our 4 primary markets by 10% in summer 2010).
• Promote new full-service grocery store development in Wards 4, 7, and 8.
• Support the acceptance of WIC at two new stores in Wards 7 and 8.
• Increase in number of healthy food projects in underserved communities (e.g., green carts, community gardens, etc.)