“Moving forward this summer … our Heart Smarts program will address … other health issues that impact peoples’ lives and quality of life in their communities…"
Morgan Taggart, director of PRCHN’s Healthy Food Access Initiatives, commented to The Land about efforts across Cuyahoga County to support small grocery stores and to expand food access programs to address other individual and population health issues.
Excerpts from the article in The Land:
A supermarket assessment completed by the Cuyahoga County Board of Health in 2018 indicated that countywide, 456,000 residents or 36% of the population live more than half mile from a grocery store and live in a high poverty area while nearly 193,000 residents live more than one mile from a grocery store.
The report also revealed that approximately 230,000 persons living in food deserts – areas without easy access to healthy foods – are African American. About 50% of all Cleveland residents, and 25% of all Cuyahoga County residents, live in a “food desert”; and of the Cleveland residents living in a food desert, 60% describe themselves as “non-white.”
Some dollar stores and convenience stores have pivoted to provide fresh foods. In June 2019, Dollar General opened its first DGX Cleveland store downtown in Reserve Square on East 12th Street. The location features a smaller store that includes healthy food options. The new retail concept for Dollar General combines a selection of to-go items along with an assortment of low-priced groceries.
“This is a pilot format store where they have pivoted a little bit to be more grocery and fresh-food focused,” said Taggart.
Taggart oversaw the Heart Smarts program in her other role as Director of Food Access Raises Everyone (FARE). In 2019, they worked with six corner stores in Central-Kinsman, Clark-Fulton, East Cleveland, and Mt. Pleasant neighborhoods. Instructors provided weekly nutrition lessons for a couple of hours in each store, and participants would receive $5-8 worth of Health Bucks vouchers that could be used to purchase fresh foods and beverages. FARE gave out $12,000 worth of vouchers.
The full article is