The USDA released a much-anticipated study of food deserts today. The full study can be found here. Below are statements from PolicyLink and The Food Trust about the study.

Statement from PolicyLink President Judith Bell

“The new USDA food desert report provides yet another confirmation that access to healthy food is a significant problem for millions of Americans. The report shows that about one in every 13 Americans – 23.5 million people — live in low-income communities that are more than a mile from the nearest large grocery store.

As more than 70 studies have shown during the past decade, the lack of access to healthy food is a real challenge in many low-income urban communities, rural communities, and communities of color. This is a public health issue, plain and simple. As we demonstrated in the 2008 report, Designed for Disease: The Link Between Local Food Environments and Obesity and Diabetes, people living in neighborhoods crowded with fast-food and convenience stores but relatively few grocery or produce outlets have a significantly higher prevalence of obesity and diabetes. (The report was prepared by PolicyLink in partnership with the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the California Center for Public Health Advocacy).  Other studies demonstrate that in addition to providing access to healthy foods, supermarkets and large grocery stores are important neighborhood economic engines, bringing jobs and revitalization.

This USDA report adds to the growing body of research on the ways that where you live affects your health. Now is the time to implement proven, impactful policies to address America’s food desert crisis.”

Statement from John Weidman, Deputy Executive Director, The Food Trust

“Improving access to grocery stores in both urban and rural communities must be part of our national strategy to improve children’s health and prevent obesity and diabetes.  The Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative has demonstrated that supermarkets can thrive in food deserts and offers a strong model for solving this problem nationally.   Expanding this program is one of the Top Ten recommendations of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Commission To Build a Healthier America.”

PolicyLink President Judith Bell had a letter published this weekend in the New York Times. Check it out:

To the Editor:

Re “Fresher Food, With Some Help” (Business Day, June 17):

Gov. David A. Paterson’s effort to bring fresh-food stores to low-income communities is a boon for the health and economies of neighborhoods that need boosts in both.

By trying to replicate the astounding success of the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative — which has already provided nearly 400,000 Pennsylvanians with better access to healthy food — New York is at the leading edge of a national wave to bring healthy food and jobs to communities that were abandoned decades ago by the well-stocked supermarkets most Americans take for granted.

That is why my organization is working in partnership with the leaders of these state efforts — the Food Trust and the Reinvestment Fund — to bring this smart, innovative idea to a national scale. Using the leadership and leverage of the federal government, we can make a real impact on the health and welfare of millions of residents of low-income communities and communities of color.

Judith Bell
Oakland, Calif., June 17, 2009

The writer is president of PolicyLink, a national research and advocacy organization.

Excellent piece today in the Times’ business section about the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative…and the effort to replicate it in New York.

 The ShopRite owner, Jeffrey Brown, a fourth-generation grocer, said it would not have made economic sense to open the $14.5 million store, which is at 52nd Street and Parkside Avenue, if not for a Pennsylvania grant and revolving-loan program aimed at improving access to nutritious food in places with few, if any, good stores to choose from.

“In neighborhoods like this, people have less money and the first thing they cut out are all the high-margin items,” said Mr. Brown, citing prepared foods and fancy breads as examples. Costs, like extra security, tend to be higher in poorer neighborhoods, he said.

Through the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative, Mr. Brown, who owns 10 other supermarkets in the Philadelphia area, got a $1 million grant and $7 million in federal New Markets tax credits, which are aimed at stimulating investment in low-income communities. Several customers said the prices at Mr. Brown’s store were fairer than what they had been used to.

Inspired by Pennsylvania’s example, New York City officials have developed an initiative of their own to bring new neighborhood markets selling fresh food to areas of the city where they say the need is greatest.

PolicyLink, The Reinvestment Fund and The Food Trust are also working to bring this idea national. Check out a great two-page primer on the federal possibilities here.