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I am working on ending adult/childhood obesity in my community; how can I help my community increase access to healthy foods (natural/organic) and at affordable price, currently am looking into data on co-ops and other nonprofit grocery models, your thoughts?
Definitely needs to be something where the food is available to people in the inner city. I know in a lot of cities, supermarkets aren't in high density areas and 7-11s and CVSs don't carry produce.
I am working on ending adult/childhood obesity in my community; how can I help my community increase access to healthy foods (natural/organic) and at affordable price, currently am looking into data on co-ops and other nonprofit grocery models, your thoughts?
Make sure your target market is even interested in eating the foods you propose. If they are, they should be willing to follow and actively participate in or contribute to a co-operative model.
If they're not, move on.
I'm not a fan of anyone or anything using coercion to get people to eat healthy other than parents with their children.
Corn and soybean farmers recieve billions in subsidies every year, which makes processed foods cost virtually nothing. If anything, prices of food in the US are too low, it's more of a distribution problem, not a price problem.
That being said, the coop I go to completely out of range - price wise - of the average consumer. Other than buying a few items, you could easily pay $400 for a small cart of groceries. That's why I thought it was comical when they opened a Whole Foods on the south side of Chicago.
There is typically low margins on grocery, especially produce, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are much higher for local/organic. Unfortunately, I don't know enough to offer any solutions.
You need a bulk-supplied form of a farmer's market. And this will take effort on someone's part to buy fresh produce in bulk and then make it available in areas of the city in which fresh produce isn't readily available, or where the corner markets are pricey.
The key is to buy in bulk. Truckloads of ears of corn, green beans, etc. Work it out so that people can pay with food stamps/ebt cards.
Make it a community service project for people sentenced to community service for misdemeanors, and/or give volunteers credits towards buying fresh produce.
Make sure your target market is even interested in eating the foods you propose. If they are, they should be willing to follow and actively participate in or contribute to a co-operative model.
If they're not, move on.
I'm not a fan of anyone or anything using coercion to get people to eat healthy other than parents with their children.
Great post and probably one of the truest ones I have read. I am tires of hearing about "food deserts" and lack of fresh foods when all the people want is the ability to find the maximum amount of food for their money. With the cost of fresh options versus spaghetti-o's you know what always wins out.
Great post and probably one of the truest ones I have read. I am tires of hearing about "food deserts" and lack of fresh foods when all the people want is the ability to find the maximum amount of food for their money. With the cost of fresh options versus spaghetti-o's you know what always wins out.
Spaghetti-o's and processed foods aren't really all that cheap, though. One of the big hurdles, as I see it, is that fresh/raw foods are more time-consuming to prepare, and many people will balk at that.
Maybe education as to simple food prep techniques would help?
How much does a family-size bag of prepared salad cost compared to a large bag of potato chips? From what I've seen at the grocery, they're about the same price. Cutting fresh veggies/meats into smaller pieces shortens cooking time. Stir fry is a quick cooking technique, can use virtually any meats and veggies, and everything can be cooked in the same pan. Even super cheap ramen can be made much more healthy by using only half the seasoning packet (to reduce salt) and adding veggies/meat/eggs.
Another big hurdle is that people have to be willing to make healthier food choices. How do you make anyone want to preserve their health?
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