Healthy Corner Store Project:

A Toolkit

Sustainable Long Island, 2016

Table of Contents:1 Introduction:

1.1 Project Background ……………………………………………………...3

1.2 Why Corner Stores?............................................................................3

1.3 Project Goals & Objectives………………………………………..…….4

1.4 Successful Programs………………………………………………….…..5

1.5 Methodology…………………………………………………………….....7

2 Assessments: 2.1 Neighborhood

Demographics……………………………………….....82.2 Store Inventory & Stock

Survey………………………………………....83 Customer & Community Interaction

3.1 Customer Surveys………………………………………………………....9

3.2 Community Outreach……………………………………………..…….10

4 Store Owners 4.1 Approaching Owners………………………………………………..

….114.2 Creating Strategic

Partnerships…………………………………….....125 Business Incentives ……….

…………………………………………………………….136 Monitoring & Program

Evaluation……………………………………………….…..147 References …………………………………………………………………………….…

158 Appendices

8.1 Retail Food Assessment Form……………………………………..…...16

8.2 Store Agreement Form…………………………………………….……18

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8.3 Community Surveys……………………………………………….....….20

8.4 Promotional Materials………………………………………………..….22

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Introduction

Project Background:Through the Suffolk County Food Policy Council, Sustainable Long

Island (SLI) has created a partnership with Island Harvest, a leading hunger-relief organization on Long Island, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, and the Suffolk County Office of Minority Health to improve access to healthy food in underserved communities through cooperating with corner store owners. After a successful pilot program was launched by Cornell Cooperative in Riverhead, SLI and their partners were inspired to expand the program to include several other underserved Low-to-Moderate-Income (LMI) communities over a two-year period. These communities include Mastic, Wyandanch, Gordon Heights, Brentwood, and Central Islip.

Why Corner Stores?Low-income communities often have limited access to fresh produce

and grocery stores. Due to a lack of access to grocery stores and limited mobility, low-income residents are more likely to shop in corner stores for their food or eat at fast-food establishments.

An individual’s residence affects the type of “food environment” that they live in, and not all of these environments are created equally. Low-income residents often do not have access to high-quality fresh produce, and if they do, they are largely unaffordable. Disparities in food access affect a community’s rates of obesity, diabetes, and other health-related illnesses. Due to the difficulty in attracting large-scale grocery stores to these communities, the popularity of corner stores creates an opportunity to improve the health of underserved communities. Targeting corner stores enables us to take advantage of existing infrastructure in order to increase the availability of healthy foods in these communities, which are often known as “food deserts” (Azrilian, et al., 2012).

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PROJECT GOALS & OBJECTIVES

The Healthy Corner Stores Program seeks to improve community health in a number of ways:

1. Health and access - helping people make healthier choices, making healthy options more readily available

2. Education - possible partnership with schools for ongoing nutrition education

3. Energy/environment - energy savings, transit accessibility, lower carbon footprint

4. Economics - reduce operating costs, increase sales, grow profits

5. Encourage use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and WIC Vegetable and Fruit Program

Successful Healthy Corner Store Programs:5 | P a g e

Philadelphia’s Healthy Corner Store Initiative

Developed by The Food Trust, a nationally recognized nonprofit and promoted through the Philadelphia Department of Health’s initiative “Get Healthy Philly” in 2010, the Healthy Corner Store Initiative represents a widely successful program with a network of over 600 stores. Each store adds a minimum of four new products, such as fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, lean meats, and whole grains, resulting in many underserved communities gaining access to healthier food options. Through this initiative, store owners saw a 60% rise in their sale of produce items with healthy products totaling 35% of their overall sales (Sandoval, B.A., Karpyn, A., & Aquilante, J., 2012, & The Food Trust, 2014).

New York City’s Healthy Bodega Initiative

The Healthy Bodega Initiative was coordinated by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and funded by the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity. Beginning in 2006, this initiative worked with more than 1,000 corner stores and bodegas located throughout neighborhoods with the highest rates of poverty. The initiative offered store owners simple, low-cost, and

effective mechanisms to sell healthy food products in addition to promotional incentives. By working with community organizations and local residents to

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support purchases of healthy products, nearly 80% of store owners claimed that the initiative helped them improve their sales of healthy foods. Simple changes, such as adding healthier varieties of products that stores were already selling as well as changing the physical layout of the store to make healthy foods more prominent, were among the most successful mechanisms in promoting sales (Dannefer, et al., 2012).

Minneapolis’ Healthy Corner Store Program

In 2012, the Minneapolis Department of Health and Family Support introduced the Healthy Corner Store Program in an effort to improve the health of city residents. As over 75% of stores did not meet produce requirements, this program supported corner store owners in making healthy foods and fresh produce more affordable, visible, and attractive for their customers. This program also aimed to increase knowledge and sales of healthy products. Many store owners began to offer a variety of healthy food products and reported increasing sales of fresh produce with each passing week. Many items began selling out before spoiling, which highlights the overall success of the program. Stores that accepted Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) were amongst the most successful (Minneapolis Department of Health and Family Support, 2012).

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Methodology

Pre-Project Assessment : identify neighborhood demographics Develop and conduct questionnaires for local residents to

determine preferences Develop and conduct questionnaires for store owners to

understand their attitudes towards and practices regarding stocking & selling healthy foods

Conduct physical needs assessment of store (layout, set-up, items stocked)

Assessment of stock/inventory Identify appropriate strategies and develop action plan for each

store (see below) Coordinate and implement identified strategies including but not

limited to enrollment as SNAP vendor, physical store changes, creating new signage, arranging cooking demonstrations, creating recipes/nutritional handouts, etc.

End-of-Project Evaluation : conduct customer and neighborhood stakeholder survey to gauge changes in perception and behavior

Discuss findings with store owner to gauge impressions and gather input/feedback; evaluate success of project.

Report on and share findings : identify lessons learned; share with appropriate local and municipal stakeholders

Assessments

Neighborhood Demographics:

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Neighborhoods should be assessed to determine income and racial composition along with determining how many grocery stores are available. Corner stores and bodegas should be targeted in low-income and minority communities, as this approach looks to improve the food environment of disadvantaged populations. Health-related diseases disproportionately affect poor African Americans and Latinos at much greater rates than wealthy whites (Dannefer, et al., 2012). Census data can be obtained from the United States Census Bureau, City-Data, and Long Island Index.

Store Inventory/Stock Surveys:

Once a corner store has been targeted, surveys to assess the current stock and inventory should be conducted. It is helpful to keep track of what items are being sold and where they are being displayed. Where are the fruits and vegetables located? Is fresh produce displayed at the front of the store or is it pushed aside? Do advertisements promote healthy products or junk food? It is also beneficial to make note of whether or not the store sells certain non-food products such as alcohol and tobacco products.

Assessments should also consider the store’s physical configuration. How many aisles are there and how wide are they? Does the store have refrigerators? Is off-street parking available? Note whether or not the store accepts EBT, participates in SNAP/WIC, or has an ATM machine. Please refer to Appendix 8.1 for a sample Food Retail Assessment.

Customer & Community Interaction

Customer Surveys:9 | P a g e

Customer surveys are essential for the creation of healthy communities as they are needed to gauge activity and support. Surveys should ask questions to see how often customers shop at their local corner stores, what types of items they purchase, if they would be willing to purchase healthy foods if their store offered it, and what types of healthy products they would like their store to offer.

Administering surveys to middle school and high school-aged teenagers is also helpful in order to evaluate their access to healthy foods. These surveys should be much more specific to find out exactly where teenagers are purchasing food from, how far away food retailers are from their residencies, what types of snacks they purchase, and what healthy products they would like to purchase.

After distributing initial surveys, customers should also receive follow-up surveys to see if their eating habits have changed and to gauge the overall success of the program. Questions should ask if they have incorporated more healthy foods into their diets and prepared more healthy meals after increasing the availability of healthy products at their local corner store. Please see Appendix 8.3 for samples of community surveys.

Community Outreach:After conducting the survey, it is extremely important to engage local

community residents throughout the creation of healthy corner stores. When providing community outreach, residents should be informed of the project and its goals. They should want to “buy in” to the project and support it.

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Promotional flyers can be used to advertise the project, which can be found in Appendix 8.4. Organizing kick-off events are especially helpful to make customers aware of healthy corner store projects. These kick-off events should increase the community’s knowledge of healthy foods and increase their demand for healthy products. Cooking demonstrations that use ingredients sold at corner stores also encourage customers to purchase healthy food.

Sustainable Long Island, along with the other community partners, successfully launched a kick-off event at the Neighborhood Country Market in Mastic Beach in order to attract customers in August 2014. Flyers were placed throughout the community to advertise the event. To increase the community’s access to healthy foods, free lunches were provided for children as well as free healthy food tasting.

In addition, the Neighborhood Country Market celebrated Food Day on October 23, 2015 by hosting a healthy food tasting and cooking event. Residents were shown how to prepare healthy meals using the products that were available in-store.

Store Owners

Approaching Owners

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Approaching store owners represents a critical yet difficult task in creating partnerships and obtaining a point of contact. When introducing yourself, it is important to make the store owner is aware of who you are, what organization you work for, and what your overall mission is. When approached, some owners may become concerned that authorities or government officials are trying to regulate their store. It is best not to seem too bureaucratic or authoritative when approaching small businesses. Successful approaches consist of those that are friendly and “bottom-up.”

Store owners should be involved in the project from the very beginning. When first approaching owners, it is helpful to interview them. Find out how many customers per day they get, what their customers like to purchase, and where they source their fresh produce from if they sell it. It may also be helpful to be bilingual, as language barriers may pose a serious challenge when trying to communicate with store owners (The Food Trust, 2012; The Food Trust, 2014; & Minneapolis Department of Health and Family Support, 2012).

Creating Strategic Partnerships

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Store owners may need a lot of help and support in order to introduce healthy products into their businesses. It is best to phase out project activities and create an easy-to-follow action plan based on the individual store owner’s level of commitment. Offering one-on-one training to

committed store owners is useful. They are able to learn about and practice new techniques for creating displays, promoting their products, and selling healthy items. It is important to visit store owners and their businesses frequently in order to build trustworthy relationships. Visiting often encourages owners to be responsible and accountable when selling their healthy food products. It may also encourage them to experiment with new ideas and create new displays. Along with visiting their stores, offering sale evaluations is also a good way to build trust with the owners—they want to know that selling healthy foods is profitable for their business. Overall, understanding the needs and concerns of store owners is

essential in creating strategic partnerships (The Food Trust, 2012; The Food Trust, 2014; & Minneapolis Department of Health and Family Support, 2012).

Business Incentives

Providing business incentives for store owners is essential in creating successful

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partnerships and healthy corner stores. Making small investments in equipment can greatly increase a store’s capacity and ability to sell healthy products (Sandoval, B.A., Karpyn, A., & Aquilante, J., 2012). For instance, Sustainable Long Island provided the Neighborhood Country Market in Mastic Beach with deli cases and baskets. Not only did this enable the store owner to create attractive displays for fresh fruits and vegetables, but it also enabled him to sell healthy refrigerated meals. Giving small stipends to store owners is also helpful with the initial purchases of healthy products and placing grab-and-go items near the cash register increases sales.

Aside from investing in equipment, store owners greatly benefit from publicity and support. This can be done through the use of promotional flyers and by offering coupons to local community residents. Hosting kick-off events is another great way to advertise businesses and their new healthy products. The event that took place at Neighborhood Country Market attracted new customers as well as county politicians and legislators. Afterwards, its success was published in a local newspaper.

Monitoring & Program Evaluation

After creating partnerships with corner stores and bodegas, it is critical to evaluate and monitor their progress. Sustainable Long Island encourages store owners to keep track of their sales. Sales are a good measure in determining whether or not the program was successful. For instance, Neighborhood Country Market’s daily sales increased, on average, by 91% since the project’s implementation. Discussing the importance of sales

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tacking with owners is a key component in program monitoring and evaluation.

After some time has passed, the store’s layout and inventory should be re-evaluated as well. It is important to determine whether or not the store owner has kept healthy products on display and if they have made use of promotional materials. If not, interviews should be conducted with the owner to gain their insight. Owners are best able to provide information about their customer’s habits and reactions towards the new healthy products. Make note of what worked for their business and what did not so that the program can be modified to best suit their needs.

Overall, creating partnerships with corner stores is a useful method of providing access to healthy foods in low-income communities. Sometimes, building a grocery store is simply not enough. Through continuously engaging store owners and local residents throughout the entirety of the project, we are able to create healthier communities for everyone.

References

Azrilian, J., Kwan, A., Linthicum, M., & Wolfson, J. (May 2012). Creating Healthy Corner Stores: An Analysis of Factors Necessary for Effective Corner Store Conversion Programs. L.A.

Food Policy Council.

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Change Lab Solutions. (2012). Putting Business to Work for Health: Incentive Policies for the Private Sector.

Dannefer, R., Donya, W.A., Baronberg, S., & Silver, L. (October 2012). Healthy Bodegas: Increasing and Promoting Healthy Foods at Corner Stores in New York City. American Journal of Public

Health.The Food Trust. (2014). Healthier Corner Store: Positive Impacts and

Profitable Changes.Minneapolis Department of Health and Family Support. (February

2012). Minneapolis Healthy Corner Store Program: Making Produce More Visible, Affordable, and Attractive.

Sandoval, B.A., Karpyn, A., & Aquilante, J. (2012). Philadelphia’s Healthy Corner Store Initiative 2010-2012. The Food Trust.

Appendix 8.1Food Retail Assessment

Date: Store Name:Address: Store Owner:

Store LayoutStore Type: Supermarket Grocery Store Convenience Store Corner Store/Bodega Other:____________________________________Hours of Operation: Open 24/7 or Mon.: Tues.: Wed.: Thurs.: Fri.: Sat.: Sun.:Square Footage: # of Cash Registers:

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Parking: Off-Street Street None Handicap spots? Yes NoRamp/Curb Cut: Yes No Automatic Door: Yes No# of Aisles: Aisle Width:Alcohol/Tobacco Ad: Yes No Healthy Food Ad: Yes NoRefrigerators/Freezers: Yes No # of Refrigerators/Freezers:

ServicesDoes the store have an ATM machine? Yes NoDoes the store accept EBT? Yes NoDoes the store accept WIC? Yes NoDoes the store have a kitchen or deli space? Yes NoDoes the store sell heated/pre-made food? Yes No

Unhealthy ProductsItem Availability PriceCandy (Chocolate/Gummy)ChipsSodasSugary DrinksAlcoholCigarettes

Fresh Fruits & Vegetables Yes NoItems (specify) Price Quality

Healthy Snack ProductsItem Availability PriceBaked ChipsGranola/Protein BarsLow/No-Salt PopcornLow/No-Salt PretzelsLow/No-Salt NutsLow/No-Salt CrackersYogurt

Healthy BeveragesItem Availability PriceLow-Fat Milk (1% or no fat)

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Water100% JuiceUnsweetened Iced Tea

Miscellaneous Healthy ItemsItem Availability PriceWhole Wheat/Grain BreadWhole Wheat/Grain PastaBrown RiceBeans (dried or canned)Frozen Fruits/VegetablesCanned Fruits/VegetablesLow-Fat CheeseEggs

Additional Comments: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Signature:____________________________________

Appendix 8.2Store Agreement Form

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Healthy Corner Store AgreementSTORE:

CONTACT: Phone:

EMAIL: As a small food store owner and/or operator committed to the well-being of the residents of the neighborhood in which my store is located, I agree to take the following steps as a series of short-, medium-, and long-term plans (please check all that apply):

Display healthy foods prominently in the store Label and promote healthy items Display prices for fresh fruits and vegetablesKeep prices of healthy foods affordable Participate in Federal Nutrition programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) and WIC Stock a wide variety of high quality fresh fruits and vegetables

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Healthy Corner Store AgreementSTORE:

CONTACT: Phone:

EMAIL: As a small food store owner and/or operator committed to the well-being of the residents of the neighborhood in which my store is located, I agree to take the following steps as a series of short-, medium-, and long-term plans (please check all that apply):

Display healthy foods prominently in the store Label and promote healthy items Display prices for fresh fruits and vegetablesKeep prices of healthy foods affordable Participate in Federal Nutrition programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) and WIC Stock a wide variety of high quality fresh fruits and vegetables

P AR T I C I P A T I ON C OMPONENTS

As a condition of participation in the Suffolk County Healthy Corner Stores Initiative, the Project Partners agree to the following as appropriate for actions selected by the store owner/manager:

Work with the store owner/manager to develop a work-plan outlining short-term, medium-, and long-term actions steps to be implemented

Provide guidance on purchasing and storing new healthy products

Assist with store layout to showcase healthy products

Cover agreed-upon costs of new advertising materials to promote healthy options, which may include but are not limited to:

o Posters

o Shelf labels

Develop and provide copies of informational handouts for customers, such as recipes and tips for healthy eating on a budget

Organize events and activities to promote and publicize the store and share information about healthy options with the neighborhood, such as handing out recipes or staging product tastings

Announce and promote store participation in the Healthy Corner Store Initiative pilot program through a press release and press conference

Research and provide guidance (and in some cases financial assistance) on state-of-the-art equipment and fixtures

Provide assistance in obtaining low-cost fresh fruits and vegetables

Provide information about small business funding + assistance applying for grants or loans

Facilitate access to small business services

Assist with applying to be a food stamp vendor and/or WIC vendor (for interested stores)

Explore partnerships with other stores engaged in such an initiative as well as other agencies or entities interested in promoting community health

o Refrigerator decals

o Window signs

o Yes o No

o Whole grain products

o Yogurt

o Milk

o 100% fruit juice

o Other:_____________

Date:_________________ Location:__________________

Creating Healthy Schools and Communities: High School Survey

1. Which store(s) do you visit the most to purchase food, snacks, and beverages? Please indicate each store’s name and location in the space provided below.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. How would you describe this store?

o Corner store/bodega

o Grocery Store

3. How far away are the foot retailers mentioned above?

o 0 – ¼ mile (5 min walk)

o ¼ - ½ mile (5-10 min walk)

4. How do you travel to get to the food retailers mentioned above?o Walk

o Bicycle

o Bus

5. What types of food and beverage items do you typically purchase? Select all that apply:o Chips/pretzels

o Ice cream

o Candy/chocolate

o Sandwich/bagel

o Fruits

6. Would you purchase healthy food items, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, if the above retailers provided them?

a. If no, please explain why:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

b. If yes, what types of healthy products would you be most likely to purchase?o Baked chips

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o Convenience Store

o Other:____________

o ½ - 1 mile (10-20 min walk)

o Over 1 mile (20+ min walk)

o Automobile

o Other:_______________________

o Vegetables

o Soda

o Juice

o Water

o Sports/energy drinks

o Milk

o Coffee/hot tea

o Iced tea

o Other:__________

Appendix 8.3Community Surveys

o Fresh

o Vegetables

o Fruits

o None of the above

o N/A – I don’t shop there

o Other:_______________

o No

o Very unlikely o Somewhat unlikely

o Fresh fruits

Date:_________________ Location:__________________

Creating Healthy Schools and Communities: Community Survey

1. How often do you shop at the corner stores/bodegas in your community?o Never

o A few times per year

o Once per month

2. How far away are the food retailers referenced above from your residence?o 0 – ¼ mile (5 min walk)

o ¼ - ½ mile (5-10 min walk)

3. What types of food and beverage items do you typically purchase? Select all that apply:o Snacks (chips/candy)

o Sandwich/bagel

o Soda

o Tobacco/alcohol

o Coffee/hot tea

4. Does your corner store carry healthy food and beverage products? (ex. fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grain products, low-fat dairy, 100$ juice) If yes:

5. Which healthy food and beverage products do you frequently purchase?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Are there any healthy food items that you would like your corner store/bodega to carry that are not currently available?

o Yes:_________________________________________

o No

If no:

7. If your corner store began selling fresh fruits and vegetables, how likely would you be to purchase them from there?

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o Once every 2 weeks

o 1-2 times per week

o Everyday___________

o ½ - 1 mile (10-20 min walk)

o Over 1 mile (20+ min walk)

o Water

o Whole milk/dairy

o Low-fat milk/dairy

o Juice

o Whole grain products

o Yes

o Somewhat likely

o Very likely

8. How much would you be willing to spend on the following items?

Fruit (ex. apple, banana)_____________ Half gallon low-fat milk_______Vegetable (ex. carrots, lettuce)__________ Low-fat yogurt__________Whole grain bread__________ 100% juice__________

Appendix 8.4Promotional Materials

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