Tell Grocers: Mark the Way to Fruits & Veggies!

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Does your supermarket prominently feature unhealthy foods?

You’re invited to sign a Salud America! and Care2 letter campaign asking grocery stores to use labels, floor arrows, and other marketing strategies to promote fruit and veggie options for Latino families.

Fruits and veggies are critical to help kids grow up at a healthy weight.

Access to, and purchases of, affordable healthy foods tends to improve when healthy food offerings are expanded and promoted in underserved communities, according to Salud America! research.

But some grocers’ marketing, placement, and store design nudges families toward unhealthy foods.

The new letter campaign asks members of state grocery store associations to consider changes like:

• adding green arrows on the floor to guide customers to fruits and veggies;
• using green stickers or bilingual labeling to highlight nutritious options; and/or
• replacing junk food with healthy options at check-out stations.

“We feel this is a win-win for grocers and consumers; people get better access to healthy options and grocers can increase sales of those options,” said Dr. Amelie Ramirez, director of Salud America!, creator of the SaludToday social media campaign, and a professor at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. “In fact, a recent report found that lower-calorie beverages and foods―including fruits and veggies―drove the bulk of sales growth for supermarket chains from 2009-2013.”

People can sign the letter here: http://salud.to/MarketFruitVeggie.

Salud America! is a Latino childhood obesity prevention network funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation based at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio.