Partnering with Local Merchants to Improve Food Access in West Contra Costa County

Communities of Excellence The Communities of Excellence in Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity Prevention (CX 3 ) project takes a look at select low-income neighborhoods* in Contra Costa County to measure the nutrition environment and identify opportunities for improvement. CX 3 was designed by the California Department of Public Health’s Network for a Health California. Neighborhoods with 50% or more residents at < 185% of the federal poverty level

Richmond Neighborhoods 23 rd Street Corridor Iron Triangle North Richmond

Partnering to Map the Neighborhoods Contra Costa Health Services, in partnership with the West County HEAL Project, Opportunity West and Eco-Village, collected and analyzed local data from April 2007 to April 2008 in three steps: 1. Geographic Information System website 2. Field surveys of neighborhood stores 3. Standardized scoring system developed by CX 3

West County Youth CCHS trained14 youth to conduct the surveys

Key Neighborhood Findings Our neighborhoods are out-of-balance from a nutrition and health perspective Characterized by limited access to affordable, healthy foods Iron Triangle - small stores, healthy staple items but little produce 23 rd Street - good produce but expensive. Fewer healthy staple items North Richmond - very little that is healthy

23 rd Street 23 rd Street Corridor

What We Did Identified stores on 23 rd Street El Campesino El Chalateco Discolandia

Built Relationships with Market Owners Benefits of being WIC vendors Economic viability Creating healthy neighborhoods Network incentives

Partners Assisted Market Owners Identify items needed on shelves to be WIC vendors Complete WIC applications

SUCCESS! 3 NEW WIC Vendors 2 markets in SNAP- eligible census tracts 1 market across the street 1 market in SNAP- eligible census tract will re-apply

Technical Support CCHS and partners provide frequent technical assistance Site visits to discuss problems Face time/on-going relationship building Collaboration with Network’s Latino and Regional Retail campaigns

Feedback from Market Owners WIC clients are increasing More customers, more sales Community benefits Markets feel new sense of responsibility to community

Why We Succeeded Targeted manageable number of stores Collaborated with partners to cover more area Provided frequent and dedicated support to markets

What’s Next Continued support to markets Identify new markets for conversion CX 3 in 2012 Census Tracts

This material was funded by USDA’s Food Stamp Program through the California Department of Public Health’s Network for a Healthy California. Contra Costa Health Services provided additional funding. These institutions are equal opportunity providers and employers. The Food Stamp Program provides nutrition assistance to people with low income. It can help buy nutritious food for a better diet. For information of the Food Stamp Program, call