Denver joined cities around the country this summer by targeting its corner stores as potential solutions for its food desert challenges.
Colleen O'Connor reports on the Healthy Corner Store Initiative, a Denver pilot program that has already been implemented at five corner stores. The program launched in August, led by the city and county of Denver's Department of Environmental Health, funded by a grant of more than $327,000 from the Colorado Health Foundation.
According to O'Connor, "[the] plan is to implement the economic-development model in 50 corner stores throughout these neighborhoods over the next three years, helping the small-business owners by providing technical assistance to help carry more healthy products while promoting positive messages about nutritious foods in their stores. Other organizations in the neighborhood also offer classes in nutrition and healthy cooking." The Denver Healthy Corner Store Initiative is based on the model provided by the Philadelphia Healthy Corner Store Initiative.
The Healthy Corner Store Initiative is part of a larger effort to address the city's food deserts. Earlier this month, for instance, the "Denver Office of Economic Development announced help for the Westwood neighborhood, also a food desert, with a $1.2 million performance-based loan to the nonprofit Re:Vision for development of a food cooperative."
FULL STORY: Corner stores in NE Denver part of pilot program for food deserts
Healthy Corner Stores Fight 'Retail Redlining'
Small entrepreneurs are working to combat 'food deserts' by bringing fresh, healthy foods to communities lacking access to major grocery stores. But price continues to be a major factor in people's food choices.
Education and Nutrition Flourish Together
"A hungry world is not a just world," says one of the local residents quoted in this story about a community garden in Denver.
Minneapolis Scales Back Healthy Food Program
Minneapolis’ Healthy Corner Store Program launched with lofty ambitions in 2009—to help corner stores market and sell fresh food—but lackluster performance has required the city to reduce the scale of the program.
Americans May Be Stuck — But Why?
Americans are moving a lot less than they once did, and that is a problem. While Yoni Applebaum, in his highly-publicized article Stuck, gets the reasons badly wrong, it's still important to ask: why are we moving so much less than before?
Using Old Oil and Gas Wells for Green Energy Storage
Penn State researchers have found that repurposing abandoned oil and gas wells for geothermal-assisted compressed-air energy storage can boost efficiency, reduce environmental risks, and support clean energy and job transitions.
Placekeeping: Setting a New Precedent for City Planners
How a preservation-based approach to redevelopment and urban design can prevent displacement and honor legacy communities.
San Francisco’s Muni Ridership Grew in 2024
The system saw its highest ridership since before the Covid-19 pandemic, but faces a severe budget shortage in the coming year.
Colorado Lawmakers Move to Protect BRT Funding
In the face of potential federal funding cuts, CDOT leaders reasserted their commitment to planned bus rapid transit projects.
Safe Streets Funding in Jeopardy
The Trump administration is specifically targeting bike infrastructure and other road safety projects in its funding cuts.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
City of Moreno Valley
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland