Policy Details:

It is recommended that:

1. The City of Ottawa, in partnership with corner store business owners, Business Improvement Areas (BIAs), and community groups, conduct feasibility research and develop a proposal for a pilot project in an Ottawa neighbourhood with poor food access with the goal of increasing access to fresh, healthy, and locally grown foods in small, neighbourhood-based food retail outlets (i.e. corner stores).This model could be pilot tested in an Ottawa neighbourhood with poor access to fresh and healthy foods. Components of this would include:

• Researching the key barriers faced by corner store owners to offering perishable and locally sourced foods, and finding solutions for these barriers;
• Better integration of corner stores into existing business networks, such as BIAs, Chambers of Commerce, and Savour Ottawa to ensure that corner store owners can benefit from existing expertise and opportunities. This may also include networking corner store owners directly to local farmers;
• The development of a “Healthy Corner Store” guide in order to facilitate the replication of healthy corner stores throughout Ottawa;
• Addition of healthy food or local verification criteria in City retail recruitment;
• Assessment of incentive-based programs that might help corner stores transition towards healthier foods, which may include but is not limited to:
• Tax credits or service rebates;
• Zoning incentives;
• Façade redevelopment funds;
• Provision of grants or loans to offset some of the costs of equipment, freezing/cooling units, or store renovation;
• A tax receipt incentive program to encourage donation of perishable items near expiration date[1];
• Featuring participating corner stores on the City of Ottawa website, or other in-kind assistance with promotions; and
• Linking participating corner stores to community organizations that can assist with educating the local population about the benefits of healthy foods. Community organizations could provide recipe handouts, cooking demonstrations, or special labelling of healthy and local foods in order to promote these items.

The Role of Businesses, Community Organizations, and Individuals – What You Can Do:

• If you are a corner or convenience store business owner, consider increasing the proportion of healthy, fresh, and locally sourced foods that are available.
• Let the owner of the corner or convenience store in your neighbourhood know if you would be interested in buying more fresh, healthy, and locally-sourced foods from them.

Pertains to:

• City of Ottawa Departments of Economic Development, Planning and Public Health
• Business Improvement Areas
• Corner and Convenience Store Business Owners

Rationale

The lack of grocery stores in neighbourhoods limits residents’ ability to make healthy food choices. In particular, residents with limited access to transportation rely heavily on corner stores for their food shopping. Most corner stores sell primarily soft drinks and pre-packaged convenience items; few offer fresh produce or other healthy food options, such as whole-grain baked goods or low-fat dairy products[2].

1. Improved access to food, particularly in under-served neighbourhoods addresses unequal food access.

The Ottawa Neighbourhood Study(ONS) provides data that allows for the identification of ‘food deserts’ in Ottawa.  As mentioned above, food deserts are low-income neighbourhoods or communities that have only limited access to fresh, healthy food[3]. Currently, in Ottawa, there are fourteen lower SES (socio-economic status) neighbourhoods with limited access to a grocery store (here defined as no grocery store in neighbourhood and a distance of more than a kilometer to the closest grocery store)[4].  This is particularly problematic, as people living in poorer neighbourhoods may lack cars and thus face hardships getting to and from the grocery store. People living in rural neighbourhoods also face difficulties accessing grocery stores; the centre of five rural neighbourhoods in Ottawa is more than 10 kilometers away from the nearest grocery store.  Even though the rural neighbourhoods and communities around Ottawa are classified as higher income, there are many people living in such neighbourhoods who are living on lower incomes and thus face hardships accessing food.

The ONS also revealed that in Ottawa, the least-advantaged neighbourhoods had significantly more convenience stores per thousand people than the more advantaged neighbourhoods[5].

When the food security assessment toolkit called “Where’s the Food?” was applied to the community of Sandy Hill, it demonstrated that the area is rich with schools, community buildings, and community housing, but limited in terms of fresh/healthy food options in the Mann Ave/Strathcona Heights area of Sandy Hill[6]. The toolkit identified 58 total food outlets in Sandy Hill; there are only four (6.9%) fresh-food grocers in Sandy Hill, but there are 10 (17.2%) convenience stores and 12 (20.7%) fast food outlets in that particular community. In Fitzroy Harbour, the “Where’s the Food?” toolkit research revealed that there is only one ‘general store’ located in the village; it carries a limited range of fresh and non-perishable foods, including some local products[7]. However, the next closest food retail outlet is 22km away.

Since corner stores are often the only place where groceries are sold in “food deserts”, it is important to make fresh and local food options available at these establishments as one component in addressing unequal food access across Ottawa.

2. Better [access to] food leads to better health.

In the United States, the presence of supermarkets was associated with higher consumption of fruits and vegetables among adults[8]and closer proximity to supermarkets was related to better diet quality during pregnancy[9].  Furthermore, presence of supermarkets and in a neighbourhood has been related to lower rates of overweight/obesity in adults in the United States[10]; shorter travel time to grocery stores was also related to lower BMI[11]. By providing fruits and vegetables in their corner stores, owners can be contributing to the health of neighbourhood residents.

1. Changes to food availability can be accompanied by education and awareness for greater impact.

When fresh foods are introduced into corner stores it must be publicized so that people living in the neighbourhood are aware of the changes. Efforts to improve access to fresh and local food in corner stores should be accompanied by education. This food education would have a double benefit: it would help boost business for the small-scale retailer by promoting healthy items, and also contribute to a healthier local population.

Opportunities to learn about why it is important to make healthy food choices and how to prepare healthy food should be made available to people in the neighbourhoods surrounding these corner stores.  Education campaigns could include handouts about recipes and healthy food choices, special labelling of newly available foods, improved signage, and partnerships with chef training programs, local restaurants, and community and Public Health dieticians. Diabetes research, prevention and education initiatives in several northern Ontario First Nations communities[12] have demonstrated how education – such as cooking demonstrations, labelling, and taste tests – can help to ensure that healthier foods are chosen more often, that people know how to cook with these foods, and that their health benefits are well understood.

Ottawa elementary school teachers might be encouraged to incorporate information about junk-food advertising and navigating convenience stores in health and nutrition classes. Community Health Advisors employed through Ottawa Public Health might include in their information sessions – especially in neighbourhoods lacking a grocery store – tips for shopping healthfully at convenience stores and resources for lobbying corner stores to include healthier food options.

Educating and engaging youth, who often purchase snacks from corner stores on their way to and/or from school, was found to be a successful approach to garnering support for healthier food in corner stores in several American initiatives. For example, the Healthy Corner Stores Network recently released a brief detailing the achievements of corner store initiatives that focused on youths as agents of change in implementing and garnering support for healthier community stores[13].

Community- and school-based nutrition education is another important means for reinforcing the importance of healthy snacking. Empowering children with the knowledge to select healthy food from convenience stores fraught with advertising for chips and pop on their way to and from school can go a long way in garnering support for healthier corner stores. For example, in the summer of 2008 D.C. Hunger Solutions piloted a series of lessons about healthy snacking targeted at middle-school children. Additionally, The Food Trust’s youth leadership Snackin’ Fresh Crew, has demonstrated to be an effective hands-on health intervention.

4. Corner stores contribute to a resilient local economy and vibrant communities.

Increasing the availability of healthy products can help to stimulate local economies by creating local jobs, capturing dollars that would otherwise be spent outside of the community and revitalizing neighbourhoods. Effecting change through corner stores would involve linking together corner store owners, community partners and local farmers to create and sustain healthy corner stores. However, given the current climate of economic downturn, an important consideration for any corner store considering adding healthy foods to its inventory is the profitability of such an endeavour. For many store owners, time and resources to invest in store upgrades are unavailable and therefore making financing options such as grants and loans available to store owners may be an essential strategy in transforming the corner store food-scape[14].

Due to the small scale of their inventory, individual corner stores likely lack the purchasing power to access fresh food from distributors at a competitive cost. Developing a buying cooperative among several community convenience stores might help to offset this problem.  Profit margins on dairy, bread, meat and fresh produce are often higher than on convenience foods and value-added products such as fruit salads have an even higher profit margin. However, perishable items demands additional labour and resources to market and successfully sell such products. Therefore, it is essential that training be available to help store owners effectively and profitably sell fresh foods. Support and resources such as equipment, infrastructure (such as refrigeration units), marketing, publicity, training on produce handling or business management. The Food Trust’s Healthy Corner Store Network in Philadelphia, for example, offers a variety of services (such as marketing materials to promote healthy food, and consulting and training) to strengthen its members’ businesses.

By supplying locally-sourced foods where possible, retailers can contribute to healthier regional economies by providing regular markets for farmers. Sourcing locally also reduces the carbon emissions of long-distance transportation and reduces the chemical preservatives used on fresh fruits and vegetables intended to lengthen shelf lives[15].

Implementing creative strategies to bring locally produced foods into corner and convenience stores requires further research and consultation with corner store owners and farmers. Initiatives in other cities across North America can be instructive in this regard. One challenge may be the volume of food purchased by corner stores. Since corner stores would likely be purchasing their food in small volumes, the prices they pay for their produce would be greater than those produced in bulk and this can make produce too expensive for owners to stock. In order to combat this issue, stores might consider collective purchasing to lower the cost of produce and facilitate the distribution process. To achieve this, a collective of convenience store owners might approach a farm (or farms) that can supply them and establish a central drop-off location from which the stores can individually pick up their deliveries. For example, GrowNYC is an organization that connects corner stores with local produce by enticing regional farmers to drop off produce in one central location where retailers can purchase it at wholesale prices.

Necessary steps to facilitating a local food supply may include:

• Using collective purchasing power by engaging multiple corner store owners to create distribution hubs to reduce product and delivery costs;
• Identifying a supplier and distribution model that accounts for Ottawa’s seasonality;
• Understanding consumer preferences and creating customer demand;
• Improving store infrastructure, if necessary, to accommodate new products; and
• Where local products can’t be stocked in-store, consider implementing a farm-stand in front of the store so that the convenience store benefits from increased foot traffic and consumer loyalty can be built and developed.

Not all Ottawa corner stores are necessarily suitable to be transformed into a healthy food hub. In order to build confidence in the movement towards healthy neighbourhood stores, pilot stores should be carefully selected and connected with local institutions that can provide support by helping store owners to access various resources and opportunities.

Through collaboration between corner stores and small community-based food outlets, and existing networks such as Business Improvement Associations (BIAs) and Savour Ottawa, communities can overcome some barriers to eating fresh, healthy foods. Involving convenience stores in greater neighbourhood food security has economic benefits for the community as well as health benefits.

In Ottawa, the building blocks for these collaborative efforts are already in place.

• The Savour Ottawa network links local farmers with buyers, including retailers and restaurants. The verification process guarantees that agricultural products are produced locally, and posters, labels, and other materials help business owners to promote locally produced products in their store. A number of small grocers and specialty shops are Savour Ottawa members. The City of Ottawa Rural Affairs and Markets Management Offices play key roles in supporting the work of Savour Ottawa.
• Business Improvement Areas organize, finance and carry out localized projects, such as improvements and promotional events, for a stronger and more competitive commercial district. As of February 2012, there were 17 active BIAs in Ottawa. Each of these can play an important role in enhancing neighbourhood availability of fresh, healthy, and locally produced foods. The City of Ottawa plays a key role in supporting BIAs, through assisting in the formal designation of a BIA, and in collecting and returning to BIAs a ‘special zone levy’.

According to the American Independent Business Alliance, when a consumer spends $100 at a locally owned business, $45 of it stays in the community. When that same $100 is spent at a national chain store, only $13 remains local[16].

In the USA the group GoLocal Cooperative claims that when local businesses are supported, 1) money is circulated three-times longer in the local economy than when it’s spent at big chain-retailers, 2) local businesses create new jobs, and 3) local businesses support community projects and not-for-profits, thus strengthening the overall community[17]. Some business areas in Ottawa are capitalizing on this recent ‘support-local’ movement, like Old Ottawa South’s “Shop Local” campaign, which encourages residents to support independent businesses in the neighbourhood where possible.

Finally, smaller stores can more readily respond to particular food needs in the community, ensuring that cultural food preferences or other localized needs can be served. In fact, the Washington D.C. community group DC Hunger Solutions makes membership for the Healthy Corner Store Program contingent on corner stores “responding to customer requests for products.”[18]

Appendix D1: Background

Precedence

F*R*E*S*H Food Stores[19] (New York City)

The Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) project in New York City is a joint initiative between the city’s Department of City Planning and the state’s Healthy Foods/Healthy Communities program. Its goal is to provide greater access to fresh and healthy foods through opening of new grocery stores and upgrading existing small-scale grocers in underserved neighbourhoods. It is the first program in the USA to offer both zoning and financial incentives in multiple neighbourhoods. Some of the incentives offered by the F*R*E*S*H initiative through the New York City Industrial Development Agency (NYCIDA) and the city’s Department of City Planning include, but are not limited to, real estate and building tax reductions, exemptions from sales tax on renovation materials, reduction in required parking, and to eligibility to apply for pre-development grants and loans.[20]Previously, localities have simply restricted unhealthy food outlets from opening or provided funding for supermarkets site-by-site. The FRESH program will help create an estimated 15 new grocery stores and upgrade 10 existing stores, creating 1,100 new jobs and retaining 400 others over 10 years.

The full press release for the NYC FRESH Food program, which includes details about zoning amendments and tax incentives, is included as Appendix D2

Sandy Lake Health and Diabetes Project (Sandy Lake First Nation, ON)

The Sandy Lake Health and Diabetes Project, started in 1991 as a partnership between the Sandy Lake community and diabetes researchers, is a model for community-based primary prevention programs in diabetes, and incorporates participatory research. One component of this project is to address environmental factors that contribute to poor health – such as an excess of unhealthy foods available in local stores. To address this, the project encouraged local stores to feature healthy snacks (pretzels, fruit) on their food displays to make it easier for people to make healthy food purchases.

ZhiiwaapenewinAkino’maagewin: Teaching to Prevent Diabetes (ON)

ZhiiwaapenewinAkino’maagewin: Teaching to Prevent Diabetes is a community-based diabetes prevention program based in schools, food stores and health offices in seven First Nations in northwestern Ontario. Based on the Sandy Lake model, this project similarly emphasizes improving the food environment through healthier foods in corner stores. Stores owners are encouraged to stock healthy food choices, to use shelf labels that will identify healthy foods, and to feature cooking demonstrations and taste tests in the store. This trial project is being expanded to include 18-20 First Nations in Ontario, Manitoba, Michigan, and Wisconsin. A process evaluation includes suggestions for improving success of this project through additional actions in schools, food stores, and community and health services[21].

Delridge Healthy Corner Store Project (Seattle)

Funded jointly by the City of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development and the Seattle Foundation’s Healthy Kid Fund, the Delridge Neighbourhoods Development Association (DNDA) worked with select corner stores in the area to expand sales volume and customer base by selling more fruits and vegetables. A Toolkit for Community Organizers and Store Owners is a compilation of the project’s lessons learned and recommendations for other jurisdictions.

DC Hunger Solutions: Healthy Corner Store Program (Washington D.C.)

In this project, funded by the DC Department of Health and managed by the community group D. C. Hunger Solutions, corner stores are encouraged to become members of the Healthy Corner Store Program. Members receive a $150 stipend funded through the D.C. Department of Health for purchasing new products that meet certain health criteria as well as support for processes such as applying to be a food stamp vendor, accessing small-business funding, and assistance working with fresh food distributors.

Food Financing Initiatives (California & Pennsylvania)

The California Healthy Food Financing Initiative aims to assist grocers and farmers’ markets in opening new locations in poorer neighbourhoods and to help existing corner stores expand their stock of fresh foods. A fund created in the state treasury would compile federal, state, and private funds for the purposes of expanding access to healthy foods in underserved communities.

The California model is based on a similar program in Pennsylvania where the non-profit financing institution The Reinvestment Fund (TRF) has created the Fresh Food Financing Initiative. This initiative financially supports supermarkets and small-scale grocers state-wide in order to increase access to healthy foods in underserved neighbourhoods. Under this program, TRF provides predevelopment grants and loans, land acquisition financing, equipment financing, capital grants for project funding gaps and construction and permanent finance. However, important to note is that this initiative in Pennsylvania is only available to supermarkets and grocery retailers, convenience stores do not qualify.

West Oakland Youth Standing Empowered (WYSE) (Oakland, California)

In California, the WYSE afterschool youth leadership program connected youth with the Healthy Neighborhood Stores Alliance (HNSA) to improve access to fresh produce in corner stores. Youth employees were heavily involved in all the activities – from produce inventory to delivery, to customer education – to launch and support the HNSA. According to Quinton Sankofa, program director of the organization that launched the HNSA project, the youth-partnership of the program has been met with “tremendous” support from the community who appreciate the healthy selection and opportunities for youth fostered by the program.[22]

Appendix D2: F*R*E*S*H Food Program (NYC) Press Release

May 16, 2009: MAYOR BLOOMBERG, GOVERNOR PATERSON AND SPEAKER QUINN ANNOUNCE COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGIES TO INCREASEAND RETAIN GROCERY STORES IN NEW YORK CITY

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/about/pr051609.shtml

Appendix D3: Healthy Corner Stores Network Resources and Toolkit

The Healthy Corner Stores Network offers a wealth of resources including toolkits for developing healthy convenience store initiatives, issue briefs, and consultant profiles.

http://www.healthycornerstores.org/resources

Appendix D4: Ottawa Business Improvement Areas Contact Information

List of Ottawa Business Improvement Areas from City of Ottawa website 

[1] Foods that are acquired through this means could be redistributed to various charitable community programs and community groups that provide meals and/or food services.

[2] Public Health Law & Policy (2009). “Why Healthy Corner Stores?” Healthy Corner Stores: The State of the Movement, accessed online March 2011 at http://healthycornerstores.org/wp-content/uploads/resources/HealthyCornerStores-StateoftheMovement.pdf

[3] Cummins, S & Macintyre, S. (2006). “Food Environments and Obesity – neighbourhood or nation?” International Journal of Epidemiology, (35): 100-104

[4] Adapted from USDA definition, available online at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/fooddesert/about.html#Defined

[5] Kristjansson E, Sawada M, Calhoun M, Leclair S, Herold S, Parenteau MP, et al. Spatial Inequalities and Health Inequalities: Neighbourhood Socio-economic Status, Resources for Health, and Health Outcomes in Ottawa, Canada. Ottawa: Institute of Population Health; 2008.

[6] White-Jones, Karen. (2010). “Where’s the Food? A Compilation of Research Gathered with the Food Security Assessment Toolkit in the Sandy Hill Community” Food Security Assessment Toolkit, accessed online March 2011 at http://www.justfood.ca/foodforall/documents/Wheres_the_Food-Sandy_Hill_research_compilation.pdf

[7] Fitzroy Harbour Where’s the Food community group, unpublished research results

[8] Zenk 2005, 2009

[9] Laraia, 2004

[10] Lopez, 2007, and Morland, 2006, 2009

[11] Ingami

[12] “Community Wide Diabetes Prevention Activities, Sandy Lake Health and Diabetes Project“ webpage, accessed online March 2011 at: http://www.sandylakediabetes.com/?q=node/6; and “ZhiiwaapenewinAkino’maagewin: Teaching to Prevent Diabetes” website, accessed online March 2011 at: http://www.healthystores.org/ZA.html

[13] See http://www.thefoodtrust.org/php/programs/Summer2011issuebrief.pdf for a full description of youth-focused projects and their impacts on promoting healthy corner stores.

[14] For a complete brief on healthy corner stores as an economic development strategy, visit: http://www.thefoodtrust.org/php/programs/Winter2011issuebrief.pdf

[15] DeWeerdt, Sarah. (n.d.). “Is Local Food Better?” Worldwatch Institute,” 22(3): accessed online April 2011 at http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6064

[16] American Independent Business Alliance, as cited in Marsh, Marla. (2010). “Dollars Spent at local businesses build economy,” The Wichita Eagle, accessed online March 2011 at http://www.kansas.com/2010/10/14/1541441/dollars-spent-at-local-businesses.html

[17] National GoLocal Cooperative, as cited in Marsh, Marla. (2010). “Dollars Spent at local businesses build economy,” The Wichita Eagle, accessed online March 2011 at http://www.kansas.com/2010/10/14/1541441/dollars-spent-at-local-businesses.html

[18] D.C. Hunger Solutions (n.d.) “Membership Criteria” Healthy Corner Store Program, accessed online March 2011 at http://www.dchunger.org/pdf/cornerstore_brochure_english.pdf

[19] New York City Department of City Planning > Projects & Proposals > “FRESH Food Stores,” accessed online March 2011 at http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/fresh/index.shtml

[20] See http://www.nycedc.com/program/food-retail-expansion-support-health-fresh for further details on financial incentives.

[21] A. M. Rosecrans, J. Gittelsohn, L. S. Ho, S. B. Harris, M. Naqshbandi and S. Sharma. (2008). “Process evaluation of a multi-institutional community-based program for diabetes prevention among First Nations,” Health Education Research 23 (2): 272-286.

[22]http://www.thefoodtrust.org/php/programs/Summer2011issuebrief.pdf