When it comes to food,

what does it mean to be a Good Neighbor?

Bayview Hunters Point residents are hospitalized more often than residents of other San Francisco neighborhoods for nearly every disease. One of the major reasons for our community’s poor health is the lack of access to fresh food — with supermarket flight, transportation barriers, and a super-abundance of fast food chains, corner stores end up serving as the primary food source.

In 2002, LEJ Youth conducted a community-based assessment of corner stores in the Bayview Hunters Point community. Wanting to get a better understanding of how tobacco and alcohol intensify many of the environmental health issues already impacting residents, the youth set out to map out how the tobacco industry targets youth and communities of color in areas like the Bayview.

They found that while there were only two food stores in the neighborhood, located far from public transportation, there are an abundance of corner stores selling alcohol, tobacco, and overpriced poor quality processed foods. Furthermore, 75% of these "junk" foods are Kraft and Nabisco products, companies owned by tobacco giants RJ Reynolds and Philip Morris. Less than 5% of foods sold in the community was fresh produce.

As a result of these findings, SF Supervisor Sophie Maxwell asked LEJ to establish a working group to address barriers to food access in the Bayview; the result was LEJ’s Good Neighbor program. LEJ Youth interns recruit merchants to become “Good Neighbors” by increasing their store stock of fresh produce and diminishing tobacco and alcohol advertising, and the youth educate the BVHP community about the importance of healthy eating.

Success! In 2007, Good Neighbor was adopted as a statewide model via AB 2384, the Healthy Food Purchase Program.

Today, the Good Neighbor Program provides local merchants with concrete economic incentives to carry healthy, affordable fresh foods. Examples of incentives include free in-store energy efficiency retrofits, local advertising, business training, cooperative buying, in-store promos, and participation in the Good Neighbor Store branding campaign. Each of these is provided through city and private program sponsorships.

LEJ Youth are continuing their Good Neighbor public education work in the community, providing the knowledge and skills to change unhealthy behaviors and address the social and physical environments that contribute to these behaviors.

We have published a Fresh Foods Community Cookbook (PDF order form) and we're hosting regular cooking demonstrations and nutrition education at Good Neighbor stores, schools, and community events. We have a target of adding five new Good Neighbor stores by 2009; the youth are continuing to survey residents around Good Neighbor stores to help merchants with inventory selection and increase community engagement.

In 2008 we are also publishing a Good Neighbor Best Practices Guide (PDF order form) for communities that are interested in starting a corner store conversion program of their own.

Many thanks to our Good Neighbor Advisory Committee:
Amy Cohen, SF Mayor's Office of Economic Development
Susana Hennessey-Lavery, SF Department of Public Health
Sraddha Mehta, SF Environment
Stanley Muraoka, SF Redevelopment Agency
Karen Pierce, SF Department of Public Health
For more information contact Good Neighbor Manager Gwendolyn Smith.

Resources:
Healthy Community Store National Network
The goal of the Healthy Community Stores National Network is to develop a national network of programs and institutions that are working to improve the availability and promotion of healthy food choices through food stores, particularly to disadvantaged and low-income populations.

Roots of Change
Roots of Change (ROC) is a collaborative of diverse leaders and institutions unified in common pursuit of achieving a sustainable food system in California by 2030.