Can We Get Some Fruit At The Corner Store?

[Kim Crouch]

There is an article in the New York Times today about corner stores pushing fruit rather than cookies. The effort is an attempt to provide low income neighborhoods healthier options in choice of foods. This is a long overdue but good strategy. As someone who grew up in a low income neighborhood, I’m here to tell you that the corner stores are your lifeline. It’s the closest thing you have to a grocery store because most of the big grocery store chains don’t see the value proposition in low income neighborhoods either because of crime and high insurance rates. For those grocery chains that do, many of the residents don’t shop at them because they aren’t conveniently located and you need a car to get to it or there prices are ridiculously high so the corner store becomes really the only viable option.

But the truth is the corner stores definitely did and continue to push the potato chips, cookies and fruit drink to the community. I understand this is what’s cheapest but if we plan to really make a dent in the obesity rates in this country and promote healthy eating then we have to get better healthy choices in low income neighborhoods. It seems that we’re pushing in this direction. A few months ago, the WIC program was revised to allow fruit and vegetables to be purchased and now there’s an effort to have the corner stores offer better health choices. This is good but it only works if we make the healthier option affordable. It makes no sense to have healthier options without affordability because no one, especially someone with limited means, is going to pay $5 for an apple or $2 an orange. What else do you think can be done to offer healthier options in low income neighborhoods. To see the NY Times article, click on the link below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/31/business/smallbusiness/31grocery....

Kim Crouch
http://mothertoson.blogspot.com.

[Tyra B.]

Just the other day as I was preparing a salad I asked my husband if he ate salads on a regular basis as a child. He said no, not really and I really didn't either. We both ate vegetables, but I suspect most of the nutrients were cooked out of i it (collard greens, okra, green peppers). I ate a lot of corn, but we all know that has really no nutritional value. I ate broccoli but with cheese and sweet potatoes laced with butter and sugar. My point is that I think it's going to take some education and maybe some of these stores offering samples, recipe sampling if they want fruit/veggies to fly off the shelf. Since I've been an adult, I have discovered that I like cauliflower, butternut squash, golden sweet potatoes (with a fraction of the sugar, butter), brussel sprouts and all sorts of fun stuff. I have also learned how to properly steam veggies. There are some veggies and fruits that I didn't even know existed!! Isn't that embarrassing? Also, I get made fun of some in my family of my new eating habits. (has this happened to anyone else?). At the end of the day, I cook up a lot of veggies and serve fruits for my twins just so that I can give them a fighting chance of being healthy.

There are all sorts of books, magazines geared toward upper income families showing healthy eating habits, but I wonder if anyone is doing the same thing for lower income families? Otherwise, unhealthy family eating traditions get passed on from one generation to the next.

Lastly, my local church is preparing to create a garden of fruits & vegetables for our congregation. All one has to do is contribute in some manner (pack of seeds, labor, dirt, etc). This also may be a cost effective option for some neighborhoods.

[Kim Crouch]

Tyra,

that's a really good idea about the neighborhood garden and doing sampling at the stores. I agree a lot of this is handed down from generation to generation. After all, most of us do what we saw our parents do. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have some workshops on how to plant a garden as well and just start planting them in neighborhoods. Would also be helpful in this economy. Also yes I've been made fun of also by family for eating habits and have been told I watch too much television but hey that's another post! LOL