In the News
Reversing a Supermarket Trend
Marilynn Marter
Philadelphia Inquirer, October 5, 2006
Nationwide, low-income areas have an estimated 30 percent fewer supermarkets than their higher-income neighbors.
Yet some regional grocery chains, such as Supremo and Fresh Grocer, are opening new stores here and beginning to reverse the 20-year trend of supermarkets exiting poor neighborhoods.
The challenge of serving inner-city food needs, however, is getting easier now that the state and city and food retailers are recognizing not just the need but the economic advantage of better local food access.
That turnaround comes in part due to financing available from the Food Trust, the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition, and the Reinvestment Fund, which have formed a partnership with the state to support the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative. Together the groups have created a pool of $80 million for retailers looking to open in underserved areas.
Reports over the last few years from the Food Trust have highlighted the need for change. Those reports show:
Significantly higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and obesity have been found among the low-income population with less access to supermarkets than among the general population.
About 71,000 Philadelphia adults report difficulty finding fruits and vegetables in their neighborhood.
More than 277,000 adults in Philadelphia rely on fast food and/or neighborhood take-out three or more times a week - foods that cost more and are higher in fat, salt, and sugar content than home-prepared foods. They are most often consumed by adults ages 18 to 44 living in the low-income areas of upper and lower North Philadelphia.
There is a 50 percent greater need among poor adults to travel a distance to a grocery store than among the non-poor.
One-third of Philadelphia residents say they travel outside their neighborhoods to buy groceries, most by necessity, not choice; 52 percent of low-income North Philadelphia residents leave the neighborhood to shop at a supermarket.
Yet, the research showed, each of Philadelphia's inner-city communities contains at least $50 million in annual retail buying power per square mile; residents of Olney alone spend $205 million annually on food outside their neighborhood.
The Food Trust campaign has reaped results, with a few new stores open and more in the works. Also, Food Trust-sponsored farmers markets now operate from roughly May to November in city neighborhoods. Meanwhile, however, several larger markets (including some Acme stores) have closed in the last few years.