Health care policy makers have long fretted about how to make more fresh foods available to low-income Bronx residents who live in so-called food deserts that are devoid of fruits and vegetables. They have introduced farmers' markets in some Bronx communities, but breaking down other barriers to access has been difficult. There has been some recent progress.
This week, a group of Bronx bodegas participated in a two-day training session to learn how they can promote healthy food choices to customers without hurting their businesses.
A major obstacle to making healthy food available at bodegas is managing owners' concerns that adding a produce section can require expensive measures like refrigeration to keep fruit looking fresh. Owners also worry about fines from regulators when outdoor fruit stands stretch even a few inches beyond sidewalk space limitations.
The Bronx has earned a last-place slot among the 62 New York state counties in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's annual health rankings for six years in a row. It has poor scores in such areas as premature death and adult obesity. A coalition of the borough's political leaders and health care organizations have vowed to lift the borough out of last place by 2020. Engaging community partners like bodegas is one way they'll get there, said Charmaine Ruddock, project director of Bronx Health REACH, a project of the Institute of Family Health.
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