Spokane7
50°
November 16, 2010 in City
Program promotes better eating by adding to stores’ offerings
Chuck Redmon’s Dairy Mart is one of two West Central neighborhood grocery stores that have been selected to participate in Spokane Healthy Corner Stores, a program designed to increase the availability of healthy food in low-income neighborhoods.
(Full-size photo)
A couple of West Central convenience stores will begin stocking healthier food choices, giving customers the option to buy apples instead of candy bars, and vegetables and whole grain breads instead of doughnuts and potato chips.
It’s part of an effort to spur better eating habits and curb obesity and diabetes rates in one of Spokane’s poorest neighborhoods.
Success will be difficult. Junk food makers have spent billions of dollars designing, marketing and distributing snack foods loaded with fat, sugar and salt.
“The things worth doing are often the hardest,” said Natalie Tauzin, who is coordinating the Spokane Healthy Corner Stores program for the Spokane Regional Health District.
The program received $10,000 in federal stimulus funds to establish the project. Some of the money will be spent to hire purchasing and marketing consultants, make minor store improvements such as better display and lighting, and other tasks.
Chuck Redmon said he likes the idea of adding more good food choices to the offerings in his Dairy Mart at 2023 W. Maxwell Ave.
The store has long sold milk, eggs, bread, fruit and other grocery staples. The convenience store doesn’t sell cigarettes and only has limited beer offerings.
But like any store, Dairy Mart sells plenty of chips, candy, packaged pastries, pop and spicy pickled sausages called “Hot Mamas.”
That won’t change, he said. But he would like to give his customers more choices. He anticipates offering baby food, cereal and formula to help mothers in West Central feed infants better food.
For adults, Redmon thinks customers will buy more vegetables if they could choose from fresh and well-displayed offerings.
Selling produce can be tricky. Most foods at convenience stores are preserved and packaged and have a long shelf life.
That’s where the grant can help, Tauzin said. There will be help with pricing and advertising, and assistance to help the stores accept food vouchers through the WIC program.
It’s the same a few blocks away at Bong’s Grocery and Deli at 2040 W. Boone Ave., where Bong Cho rebuilt her gas and convenience store after a fire several years ago.
Her store is a magnet for neighbors and she is hopeful that the healthy foods program can help her sell more fruit, vegetables and whole grain breads.
She even plans to offer fruit and health food on the counter near the cash register – coveted space where shoppers make impulse buys.
Tauzin hopes the customers might reach for a banana instead of that candy bar as the program gets under way by Christmas.
Seattle has been running such a program at about 20 convenience stores for a year.
In Spokane the health district surveyed convenience stores in West Central and Hillyard. The store owners were asked to apply for the program. In this first round only the two West Central stores were chosen.
To participate the stores have to meet certain requirements in addition to county health codes and laws banning the sale of cigarettes and alcohol to minors.
The health district has been undertaking a series of programs to increase exercise and now make better food choices.
“I think this can work,” Bong said. “I’m very excited to try this.”
Parishes giving $1.5 million toward settling sex cases 
MrNatural on November 16 at 9:51 a.m.
Great Story-Great Program
Encouraging people to eat wisely is needed more now than ever
pablosharkman on November 16 at 12:03 p.m.
We need your calls to our Representatives TODAY or TOMORROW to shift federal policies to get more local healthy food into our schools! The current federal legislature is in session for just a couple of more weeks and we need them to pass the Childhood Nutrition Reauthorization Act.
Please call your Federal Representative and ask them to support the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act (also known as the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act)! This legislation would be the first major improvement in the school meals program in more than three decades, and The Network strongly supports the Farm to School and organic food pilot program provisions as a huge boost to help our farmers feed healthy local food to our kids!!!!
• Mandatory funding for Farm to School Program grants ($40 million)
• “Organic food in schools pilot” project grants
• A 6 cent increase in the federal reimbursement rate for school lunches
• National nutrition standards for all foods sold on school campuses throughout the school day;
• Afterschool meal program expansion
PLEASE CALL YOUR FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVE: It is quick …. You just can leave a brief message with your name and zip code so they can be sure you live in their district. Ask them to pass the Child Nutrition legislation NOW. PLEASE CALL!
Representative Jay Inslee - 1st District 1-800-422-5521
Representative Rick Larsen - 2nd District 1-800-562-1385
Representative Brian Baird – 3rd District 1-202-225-3536
Representative Doc Hastings – 4th District 1-202-225-5816
Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers – 5th District 1-202-225-2006
Representative Norm Dicks - 6th District 1-800-947-NORM
Representative Jim McDermott - 7th District - 1- 202-225-3106
Representative Dave Reichert - 8th District 202-225-7761 or toll free 877-920-9208
Representative Adam Smith- 9th District 202-225-8901 or toll free 1-888-Smith09
woamike on November 16 at 8:37 p.m.
PH,
Why should the feds be involved in the feeding of kids at school? Is this a proper responsibility of government? If it is, what is the origin of this responsibility/authority?
If an able bodied/minded parent fails to provide for his/her child as you see fit, should the government be allowed to forcibly take money (through taxation) from another person to provide for that child? If so, why?
What are the limits, if any, of the government’s authority to take by force the property of one citizen and give it to another?
Assuming passage of the Childhood Nutrition Reauthorization Act by the feds is a proper use of its authority, what of the fact the country is broke and doesn’t have the money to pay for this w/o going further into debt? Is it OK to lay the burden of repaying this debt on future generations?
Yes, I asked a lot of questions. Inquiring minds would love to hear your answers.
Diana on November 16 at 9:22 p.m.
woamike, will you tell me why so many elected government officials are so interested in my body and the reproductive choices I make? Isn’t that a gigantic overreach? Do tell. Thanks
woamike on November 16 at 9:28 p.m.
Diana,
Sorry, I’ve got to cite you for major thread creep.
However, to answer your questions:
Question 1 - You’ll have to ask them.
Question 2 - Yes.
That was easy. Now, please try to stay on topic.
Thanks
woamike on November 17 at 7:53 p.m.
I’m new to this site. I’ve asked several serious, thoughtful (IMO) questions. I see many of you have hundreds, if not thousands of postings on this site and seem to have no problem expressing your opinions on a wide range of subjects. None of you can respond to any of the questions I’ve asked? Where they that tough of questions?