Healthy Corners in the Community
Our Healthy Corners program, which delivers fresh fruits, vegetables and healthy snacks to corner stores in neighborhoods located in wards 4, 5, 7 & 8 recently added a new store!
3rd Street Market, a beautiful new store located at the corner of 3rd & P St., NW is the latest store to begin offering healthy products such as apples, bananas, oranges, peppers, spinach, lettuce and other staple items to customers who would otherwise have to leave the neighborhood to purchase fresh products.
In addition to working with the store owners to make sure that they are keeping their shelves stocked with fresh fruits and veggies, our Healthy Corners team has also been busy providing tastings of products and recipe suggestions in stores, as well as attending community events to increase awareness of the program.
Kristen Pelzer Thomas, our Healthy Corners Program Coordinator, most recently attended a baby shower hosted by Chartered Health for fifty new and expectant mothers to provide samples of trail mix, banana bread and fresh fruits along with information about program offerings and locations.
Our next outreach event is coming up on May 6th when members of our team will take part in a discussion of healthy, affordable food and urban farming at the 2nd Annual North East Pie Contest.
This contest is part of the Sunday Suppers initiative to engage neighbors and create a greater community in Wards 5 and 6 via the shared connection
of food. Our neighbors from Wards 5 & 6 are invited to join us with their pies and/or appetites: http://bit.ly/JDzYum
Healthy Corners Moving Out Of Pilot Phase
March marks the final month of the pilot phase for the Healthy Corners program. Currently there are 28 participating stores located in wards 4, 5, 7, and 8.
Last month we added a few new products to the shelves including red peppers, grapefruit, green apples, red onions, and homemade banana bread courtesy of our very own Jamillah Linkins. Our Fresh Start trail mix remains a hit with all of our stores and we continue to develop new healthy products.
In the initial stage of the program, stores received all deliveries and products free-of-charge, but as of January, stores who had been receiving free deliveries for over a month began paying for products. Store owners responded well to this change; they could now pick and choose the items they wanted and seemed to feel more ownership over the program.By the end of March, all 28 stores will be paying full wholesale price for the products they receive.
In an effort to expand the reach of the program, we took out ads in The Washington Informer, Mid-City, and East of the River. The ad in the Informer was distributed on February 16th. It can also be found online at: http://ow.ly/9dYm6. The ads in Mid-City and East of the River will come out on March 12th. Additionally, all participating Healthy Corner stores can now be found on the DC Food Finder (a food resource map): http://dcfoodfinder.org/.
See what customers and store owners are saying about the program:
“More people are asking for [fresh produce]. At first almost nothing was being purchased, but step-by-step things are moving”. – Frank Haan, A-1 Grocery
“People are coming in specifically to look for fruits and veggies”. – Andrew Cho, MLK Grocery
At Marbury Market, a store located in the basement of an apartment complex, one customer commented that bringing the program to her building has been helpful for her and other seniors as they no longer need to rely on public transportation or walking to get to the nearest grocery store. She would like to see this program spread to senior wellness centers across the city.
Watch a new video about Healthy Corners
Premiering at Capital Food Fight, watch this exciting new video about the Healthy Corners program. We’re empowering small businesses to tackle the health challenges in their communities by delivering fresh produce and healthy snacks to food deserts around DC.
Healthy Corners from DC Central Kitchen on Vimeo.
