New Initiative Increases Funding For Grocery Stores

By Julie Rooney

Posted July 28, 2011

Partnering With Corporations

Michelle Obama and the Partnership for a Healthier America announced this week that several major grocery store corporations and large banks have backed a proposal to build and expand more grocery stores in American food deserts.

Banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co, Kaiser Permanente, and NCB have agreed to provide financing below or at market rates to encourage stores like Wal-Mart, Walgreens, and SuperValu to move into areas that do not have access to a grocery store.

More Money For Freshness

The new stores will open in California and are part of a $200-million program which has been modeled after similar food programs in New York and Pennsylvania.

The funds will be used to help grocers expand their existing stores with refrigerated displays so they can accommodate fresh food. They will also help stores transport fresh food and build new locations where none currently exist.

The goal is that an increased number of grocery stores will provide fresh food to more Americans and help people to make healthier eating choices.

If You Build It, They Might Not Come

However, critics have concern about the plan.

A recent study conducted by the Archives of Internal Medicine shows that income and proximity to fast food restaurants have more of a sway over people's eating habits than their closeness to a grocery store.

Others raise the issue that big box retailers like Wal-Mart will push out small grocers and farmers markets and instead promote the other unhealthy food in their stores such as processed meals and soda.