Implementing Grocery Cooperatives in Low-Income Communities: Case Example of the Renaissance Community Cooperative in Greensboro, North Carolina

Over the last few decades, the U.S. food retail environment has experienced a significant evolution in the means by which it delivers product to consumers. Food retail innovation has bred new models of food delivery that attempt to improve convenience while recognizing the need to meet existing and emerging consumer preferences. For example, a growing subset of U.S. consumers are interested in consuming local, organic and natural foods for environmental, ethical, health and other plausible reasons. As a result, an increasing number of farm to consumer delivery models, such as community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs and farmers markets, have emerged to meet the demand of niche markets. In fact, within a 10-year period (1998-2009) the number of farmers markets increased by 92% to well over 5,000 across the U.S. and since 1986 the number of CSA programs increased from two to over 1,000. For another subset of the population, food preferences are less choice-driven and are essentially determined by income levels. Since affordable community-supported agriculture programs and farmers markets are not commonplace in many low-income communities, low-income consumers reply largely on free food pantries, convenience stores and fast food restaurants. None of these options generally offer healthy food options, relative to the food retail options available to consumers with higher incomes. Income therefore is the first key indicator underlying access to healthy food. Even as the number and variety of food retail options available to most consumers have risen in recent years, there is tremendous variability in access of different populations to good, healthy and affordable food based on how much they are able to pay.Master of City and Regional Plannin

Caswell County Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Access Project

Background: A lack of access to and consumption of diverse, healthy, fresh fruits and vegetables is linked to negative health outcomes. Caswell County, North Carolina is a rural food desert, and its low-income residents are vulnerable to diet-related illnesses, particularly cardiovascular disease and obesity. Methods: The Capstone team completed four deliverables culminating in recommendations for sustainable improvements to access to fresh fruits and vegetables in Caswell County. Each product represented a sequential phase of data collection necessary to make evidence-based recommendations. The first deliverable was an in-depth, qualitative community assessment, informed by key informant interviews, online survey data, and extensive field observation. The second deliverable consisted of a mixed-methods assessment of 22 retail food outlets in the county, based on the pricing, promotion, placement, and product availability of fruits and vegetables. Following this fieldwork, the Capstone team reviewed four categories of existing intervention models to inform a recommendation of the most appropriate fit for Caswell County. The fourth and last deliverable laid the foundation for a pilot implementation of the recommended intervention model. The Capstone team conducted interviews with four storeowners to determine their readiness to implement a healthy corner store pilot program in Caswell County. Results: The community assessment, food outlet survey, and review of intervention models informed the Capstone team's recommendation of a healthy corner store initiative for Caswell County. This recommendation was made based on limited funding and dedicated staffing, and was designed to build on Caswell's existing food system infrastructure. The storeowner interviews laid out first steps in the implementation of a pilot project to be conducted by the Community Transformation Grant Project, the Capstone partner organization in Caswell County. Discussion: The assessment tools and guidance for adapting intervention models developed by the Capstone team laid the foundation for enhancing access to fresh fruits and vegetables in Caswell County via healthy corner stores. The findings from this project have implications for rural food deserts around the county by contributing to the evidence base for best practices in limited resource settings.Master of Public Healt