Focus Area: Food Retail

Understanding the Chasm in the Diffusion of Online Food Benefit Ordering: A Service Ecosystem Approach

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Although consumers used online grocery shopping more frequently to limit exposure to the COVID-19 virus during the pandemic, the participants of some federal nutrition assistance programs lacked the option to redeem their food benefits online. Some retailers were pilot-testing online food benefit ordering for the participants of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, More

Recommendations to Promote Healthy Retail Food Environments: Key Federal Policy Opportunities for the Farm Bill

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The goal of this report is to make recommendations for policy, voluntary actions, and research areas to support in-store and online food environments that make healthy food and beverage choices easier for all consumers. All shoppers face barriers to purchasing nutritious food in a retail environment that disproportionately promotes unhealthy food products. However, retail marketing More

Structural racism and geographic access to food retailers in the United States: A scoping review

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This scoping review summarized findings and key measures from U.S.-based studies that 1) examined associations between geographic indicators of structural racism (e.g., redlining, racial segregation) and access to food retailers (e.g., supermarkets, convenience stores) or 2) documented disparities in access by neighborhood racial/ethnic composition. In 2022, relevant scientific literature was reviewed using Covidence software. Independent More

Policy Opportunities and Legal Considerations to Reform SNAP-Authorized Food Retail Environments

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Research was conducted using Lexis+ to evaluate statutes, regulations, and case law to determine the legal feasibility of requiring retail-based SNAP signage and nutrition disclosures, healthy endcaps and checkout aisles, and tying advertising restrictions to the licensing of SNAP retailers. Requiring retailers that designate certain foods or locations as SNAP-eligible to consistently do so in More

Healthy Community Stores Case Study Project Findings

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Study Overview and Key Findings Improving healthy food access in low-income communities continues to be a public health challenge. One promising approach has been opening supermarkets in low-income neighborhoods or converting existing food retail operations to emphasize healthy options. The overall goal of this study was to use a case study approach to understand the More

Which Healthy Food Promotion Strategies Within Grocery Retail Settings Are Most Promising?

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This review identifies intervention strategies implemented within U.S. grocery retail stores that are effective in improving the healthfulness of shoppers’ food and beverage purchasing and consumption. Results from our review demonstrate that nutritional scoring and nutritional messaging were the most rigorously tested and effective interventions. Additionally, simple interventions yield the most successful results and minimize More

Encouraging Healthier Food and Beverage Purchasing and Consumption: A Review of Interventions within Grocery Retail Settings

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This review identifies the most promising intervention strategies for promoting the purchase and consumption of healthier items within U.S. grocery retail settings, with a particular focus on those strategies that may be most effective when implemented within SNAP-authorized retail settings. Searches of nine electronic databases, as well as forward and backward searches, yielded 1942 studies. More

Refining the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey (NEMS) for Healthy Community Stores: Adaptations to Capture Alternative Food Retailers and Align with Dietary Guidelines

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Inadequate consumption of healthy food is an ongoing public health issue in the United States. Food availability measures of supply versus consumption of healthy foods are disconnected in many studies. There is a need for an objective assessment of the food environment in order to assess how the food supply aligns with the Healthy Eating More

A Commentary on the Healthy Community Stores Case Study Project: Implications for Retailers, Policy, and Future Research

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In the United States, low-income, underserved rural and urban settings experience poor access to healthy, affordable food. Introducing new food outlets in these locations has shown mixed results for improving healthy food consumption. The Healthy Community Stores Case Study Project (HCSCSP) explored an alternative strategy: supporting mission-driven, locally owned, healthy community food stores to improve More

Balancing Mission and Margins: What Makes Healthy Community Food Stores Successful

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Mission-driven, independently-owned community food stores have been identified as a potential solution to improve access to healthy foods, yet to date there is limited information on what factors contribute to these stores’ success and failure. Using a multiple case study approach, this study examined what makes a healthy community food store successful and identified strategies More