Healthy Foods, Strong Communities

In the 1960s and 1970s, when white, middle-class families left urban centers for homes in the suburbs, supermarkets fled with them, taking jobs, tax revenues and their offerings of healthy, affordable foods. The lack of local access to healthy foods makes it difficult for families who remain in low-income urban communities to maintain a well-balanced, nutritious diet.

The good news, however, is that there are now many strategies being implemented across the country to address the lack of access to healthy food in low-income communities. There is proof that the challenges to increasing healthy food access (from changing businesses' misperceptions about local purchasing power to addressing corner store owners' fears about stocking new food items that might not sell) can be overcome. Communities and policymakers are developing innovative solutions to the "grocery gap." The results are profits for food retailers and social, economic and health benefits for residents, their families and their communities.