Choose Healthy Here - Healthy Access

how do you defineHEALTHY FOOD ACCESS?

Find

Afford

Choose

Use

farmers market

A healthy retail environment is one where it is easier to make healthy choices than unhealthy ones.  It encourages the purchase and consumption of fruits, vegetables, water, and other nutritious foods.  Healthy food access can be improved by addressing four categories: Find, Afford, Choose and Use.  

Find

Does Your Store Carry Healthy Food?
Things to consider:

  1. Can consumers find healthy foods or are they in the back of the store?
  2. Are healthy foods labeled or called attention to so they are easier to find?
  3. Are neighbors able to get to a store with healthy options?
Healthy foods are displayed near the front of the stores, they are easy to reach and easily identified.  These stores who make the healthy choice the easy choice contribute to a healthy environment when they are easy to get to.  They are along bus routes or within walking distance of those without cars or unable to drive such as youth, the elderly or neighbors down on their luck.

Afford

Are healthy foods affordable at your store?
Things to consider:

  1. Is your store enrolled to accept SNAP and WIC benefits?
  2. Are neighbors enrolled in SNAP and/or WIC?
  3. Is the store able to buy in bulk from a larger distributor, allowing for lower unit prices?
  4. Is the store eligible to be a Double Up Food Bucks site?
A healthy food environment is well patronized.  The store can count on their neighbors to buy healthy items so they purchase more variety from their distributors.  Higher purchases from the store allows a distributor to deliver more often, improving the quality of perishable foods.  Healthy food is nice to look at but is best when it is purchased and eaten.  Participation in nutrition programs will also contribute to the affordability of healthy foods by your neighbors and increase buying power of the store contributing to a better local economy.

Choose

Do you want the healthy foods at your store?
Things to consider:

  1. Have you told your store what you want to buy there?
  2. Are healthy foods stored and displayed in a way that makes them attractive?
  3. Are healthy foods promoted through signage and prominent placement?
A healthy food environment meets the demand of the community. We eat with our eyes before our tastes so the healthy environment is also attractive: clean, open, well lit, and without spoiling foods on the shelves. Promoting healthy foods creates excitement, healthy habits and contributes to the sustainability of a grocery store.​

Use

Do we know how to prepare healthy foods?
Things to consider:

  1. Is there an opportunity to provide nutrition education in the store?
  2. Will it be helpful to allow tastes of lesser known healthy items?
  3. Are there community resources like Extension, public health or clinic that can provide recipes and cooking demonstrations?
A healthy food environment provides opportunities to try new, healthful foods and creates excitement through healthy events.  Neighbors work together to share resources and knowledge about healthy living.  Providing samples, food prep demonstrations, and recipes that are simple and tasty increase the demand for healthy foods further supporting the store and local economy.