Community Food Security - read the Hunger Commission's food access study and download free food access study materials including curriculum for nutrition education workshops.

Short Range Recommendations (continued)

Improve Food Access Utilizing Current Food Resources

There is one major grocery store, four medium sized stores and numerous smaller neighborhood stores within North Sacramento and Del Paso Heights that are important assets to the community's food security. Because of this, efforts need to be made to increase food access to residents and utilize current services available in the community. Unfortunately, many residents' perceptions of these stores are that they are often dirty on the outside (and sometimes the inside), offer little fresh produce or affordable meat and do not offer competitive shopping values. One senior citizen in a recent community input meeting gave this reason for not patronizing the store close to her home, "Too many people on drugs are hanging around (in the parking lot). The store smells bad and the produce is bad." Instead, she has an aide take her out of the community to a store that is willing to take competitors coupons to do her shopping. Throughout the five community input meetings, concerns regarding safety, sanitation, quality of food, short operating hours of stores and the incapacity of local stores to accept competitors coupons, were cited as the main reasons why people were spending their food dollars outside of the community. Several people recognized efforts made by certain stores to address these issues and have made it a point to patronize them in a show of support. Overwhelmingly residents said they would be willing, even eager, to patronize local stores if some of the issues above could be addressed.

Improve Local Store Conditions

Through a collaborative effort between storeowners and community residents provide technical assistance to improve store conditions like safety, and sanitation. Many residents who have access to vehicles stopped shopping at local stores long ago. If storeowners are not willing to talk to residents about their concerns, it will be very hard to convince people to start spending their money in the community rather than somewhere that can offer them a better deal. Neighborhood associations and storeowners need to create a line of communication where residents can express their concerns about current conditions and storeowners can make residents aware of common constraints faced when owning a low-profit margin retail business such as a grocery store. Additionally, the Hunger Commission and residents can work with local police to improve the safety of customers and provide storeowners an extra measure of security against theft and vandalism, which is one of the costliest issues of owning a business. Increased police activity around grocery stores would make senior citizens and children feel safer when purchasing food and storeowners would have the support of local law enforcement. Storeowners can also take part in education issues by providing good nutrition and budgeting messages, while improving rapport through posters, brochures, videos, recipes, shelf tags and labels placed inside their store. Their efforts might also improve rapport with customers.

Improve Local Store Prices

Assist local stores in pursuing cost effective purchasing strategies, like food buying cooperatives to supply quality, affordable food. Through different strategies smaller stores can affiliate themselves with wholesalers or grocer associations enabling them to provide food at a competitive price with grocery stores. Local stores interested in pursuing cost effective purchasing strategies could become part of a food buying cooperative, to supply quality affordable food. Cooperation of storeowners and community support are integral to making this recommendation work. Increased advertisement and outreach of stores that try to lower their prices would encourage community patronage. Money reserved in family's food budgets would go to local businesses and families would have more money to spend on food because they would not have to account for transportation expenses they currently incur when shopping outside of the community. Storeowners will have less of a ‘feast or famine' sales week and can rely on more stable sales throughout the month.

Community Gardens

Increase outreach and promotion, including technical assistance if necessary, of the five community and school gardens in place in the two communities. Although gardens were not mentioned as a resource that many people used, Del Paso Heights and North Sacramento have many parcels of land that would be great for the placement of new gardens and expansion of existing ones. Community gardens would provide a food source that is very affordable, while also providing an opportunity for family and community cohesion.

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