‘Shop Healthy NYC’ Expands After More Fruits and Veggies Crop Up in East New York City Grocery Stores

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When families don’t have access to fresh fruits and vegetables it can be hard to eat healthy. In New York City, many folks in the Bronx suffer from too few fresh food options and too many unhealthy snacks at local corner stores and bodegas. The Bronx has an obesity rate of 32%, and when compared to the rate in Manhattan (14%), city health officials wanted to do something to help.

So the City unveiled Shop Healthy NYC in June 2013, a pilot program to see if assisting willing corner stores, grocery stores, and bodegas in low-income areas like the Bronx in buying and promoting more fresh produce and healthy items could help families eat better.

The Health Department unveiled this Wednesday June 22, 2014 the results of the Shop Healthy NYC, which launched in 170 East New York food stores, and found more than 80% of bodegas and supermarkets in that area increased their stock of healthier food options and advertising for those items.

Stores that participated in the program reported a 59% increase in sales for healthier foods during the first year of Shop Healthy, according to Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett.

“While the health impact of these changes may take some time, Shop Healthy NYC creates an immediate shift in the food retail environment, engaging residents, retailers and food suppliers and distributors to ensure New Yorkers have equal access to healthier food and beverages,” she said in a statement.

Basset said the program will expand to the East Tremont section of the Bronx, and has the support of several groups and officials in the Bronx.

“Our residents will have healthier food in their neighborhood stores, which will give them an easy, affordable opportunity to take a first step toward a healthier lifestyle,” Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. said in a statement.

Read about the program in the news.