The Good Food Junction: a Community-Based Food Store Intervention to Address Nutritional Health Inequities

Abstract

BackgroundThis is a 2-year study to assess the early impacts of a new grocery store intervention in a former food desert.ObjectiveThe purpose of the study is to understand the early health effects of the introduction of a large-scale food and nutrition-focused community-based population health intervention, the Good Food Junction (GFJ) Cooperative Store, in a geographically bounded group of socially disadvantaged neighborhoods (the “core neighborhoods”) in a midsized Canadian city. The GFJ grocery store was tasked with improving the access of residents to healthy, affordable food. The 5 research questions are: (1) What is the awareness and perception of the GFJ store among residents of the core neighborhoods? (2) Are there differences in awareness and perception among those who do and do not shop at the GFJ? (3) Will healthy food purchasing at the GFJ by residents of the core neighborhoods change over time, and what purchases are these individuals making at this store? (4) What early impact(s) will the GFJ have on key health-related outcomes (such as household food security status, vegetable and fruit intake, key aspects of self-reported mental health, self-reported health)? and (5) Are the effects of the intervention seen for specific vulnerable population groups, such as Aboriginal people, seniors (65 years old or older) and new immigrants (settled in Saskatoon for less than 5 years)?MethodsThe research project examined initial impacts of the GFJ on the health of the residents in surrounding neighborhoods through a door-to-door cross-sectional survey of food access and household demographics; an examination of GFJ sales data by location of shoppers' residences; and a 1-year, 3-time-point longitudinal study of self-reported health of GFJ shoppers.ResultsAnalyses are on-going, but preliminary results show that shoppers are using the store for its intended purpose, which is to improve access to healthy food in a former food desert.ConclusionsTo our knowledge this is the first large-scale study of a full-service grocery store intervention in a former food desert in Canada that has used multiple data sources, as well as longitudinal analyses, to examine its effects. Its findings will contribute significantly to the knowledge base on food environment interventions.

An Examination of Failed Grocery Store Interventions in Former Food Deserts

“…The nine remaining articles reported on six different failed grocery stores and are listed along with their stated reasons for closure in Table 2. Examples were found from Brooklyn, New York (Morland, 2010); Flint, Michigan (Sadler, Gilliland, & Arku, 2013); Hartford, Connecticut (Haar, 2011); Richmond, Virginia (Gilligan, 2004); Syracuse, New York (Weaver, 2017, 2018); and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Engler-Stringer et al, 2016; Fitzpatrick, 2016).…”

The dietary impact of introducing new retailers of fruits and vegetables into a community: results from a systematic review

“…The impact on fruit and vegetable intake among children or on other outcomes relevant to dietary behaviour or chronic disease prevention remains unknown. Many articles that were considered for (42,43) or included in the present review (20)(21)(22)(23) , or have been published since (44)(45)(46) , assessed other outcomes of interest, including area-level access to healthy foods, change in other dietary behaviours (e.g. change in total energy intake, dietary quality, consumption of specific food groups) or BMI.…”

Lessons Learned From a Food Environment Intervention Study: Recruitment and Retention of Participants in Disadvantaged Urban Inner-City Neighborhoods

“…Data collection for the cross-sectional household food procurement survey occurred between July and November 2013. A detailed description of the survey, as well as the complete study protocol, has been published elsewhere (Engler-Stringer et al, 2016). Surveys took between 5 and 20 minutes (average 15 minutes) to complete, and participants were given a $10.00 gift certificate for participating.…”

“…A yearlong longitudinal study was conducted to record potential changes in perceived health status among GFJ shoppers. The survey and participant eligibility criteria are detailed elsewhere (Engler-Stringer et al, 2016). The surveys took an average of 45 minutes to complete.…”

“…Good Food, Healthy Families , a food environment intervention study that examined the impacts of the opening of a full-service grocery store (the Good Food Junction Cooperative at Station 20 West; http://www.station20west.org) in an inner-city food desert, used a neighborhood-based recruitment strategy along with community organization partnerships (Engler-Stringer et al, 2016; Fuller, Engler-Stringer, & Muhajarine, 2015; Lotoski, Engler-Stringer, & Muhajarine, 2015). Station 20 West is a community-enterprise center where various community-based organizations, health region programming, and the University of Saskatchewan Office of Outreach and Engagement were co-located along with the Good Food Junction Cooperative Grocery Store and a café.…”