[Cross posted from Defeat Poverty DC.]
What does access to healthy foods have to do with defeating poverty?
Not only does the presence of affordable fresh food in a community have the potential to improve residents’ nutrition and overall health, but attracting full-service grocery stores also can boost the local economy – grocery retail creates jobs, generates tax revenue, draws foot traffic to support neighboring businesses, and helps spur other development.
In our recent report, When Healthy Food Is Out of Reach: An Analysis of the Grocery Gap in the District of Columbia, D.C. Hunger Solutions, along with Social Compact, documented an alarming gap in access to full-service grocery stores in the District.
Findings from the report include:
- The ratio of full-service grocery stores to residents varies widely among the District’s wards. Ward 3 has five times as many full-service grocers per capita as Ward 4.
- On average, residents of Wards 4, 5, and 7 must travel longer distances than residents in other wards to reach the closest full-service grocery store.
- The District loses more than $112 million in annual grocery revenues to neighboring jurisdictions because existing grocery retail is insufficient to meet residents’ demand.
- Some areas of the District—particularly in Wards 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8—are underserved by full-service grocery retail, compared to other areas. (The recent closure of one of Ward 5’s three full-service grocery stores has compounded the problem.)
Low-income residents bear the brunt of the grocery gap’s effects. For families struggling to make ends meet, lacking access to full-service grocers impacts both their wallets and their health. Families whose budgets are already stretched to the limits don’t have the extra money to pay for additional transportation costs to reach distant grocery stores or for the typically higher prices in small corner stores.
And the grocery gap is detrimental to the health and viability of city as a whole. However, it represents opportunities for economic development, job creation, and a more vibrant city. Thus, the report concludes with a recommendation that D.C. follow the lead of Pennsylvania, New York City (and state), and several other cities and states, and launch an initiative to attract full-service grocers to underserved parts of the city.
Councilmembers Mary Cheh (Ward 3), Kwame Brown (At-Large), David Catania (At-Large), and Tommy Wells (Ward 6) in July introduced the FEED DC Act, which, according to Councilmember Cheh’s press release aims to:
- Create a public-private partnership to attract and renovate grocery stores in food deserts;
- Designate a “Grocery Ambassador” in the District government;
- Help District grocery and corner stores offer healthier foods by providing grants, loans, tax credits, equipment, and other financial and technical assistance; and
- Provide incentives for new or existing District food retailers to purchase energy-efficient commercial refrigeration and freezer systems in the District.
Closing the grocery gap in the District by encouraging more grocers to locate in underserved areas would help reduce hunger, improve public health and nutrition, and reduce costs for low-income residents – and it should be a centerpiece of the city’s current and future health, economic development, job creation, and community revitalization initiatives.
If you are interested in learning more about access to healthy food and efforts to close the grocery gap, visit our website: www.dchunger.org. There, you also will find updates on the FEED DC Act, and potential opportunities to get involved.
