If you live in Baton Rouge, you’ve probably noticed the paucity of small, independent grocery stores in the city. According to a recent report by The East Baton Rouge Food Access Policy Commission, roughly 20% of the parish population lives in areas with unusually low access to supermarkets, also referred to as “food deserts.”
Studies show that residents of such areas are disproportionately obese and more likely to be diagnosed with diet-related diseases. In a recent report, the EBR Food Access Policy Commission linked the underdevelopment of Baton Rouge’s local economies to the absence of accessible supermarkets in key neighborhoods. According to the commission, closing the “grocery gap” would yield obvious economic benefits in these regions.
Recently, a grant program emerged to address Baton Rouge’s grocery store problem. Sponsored jointly by Together Baton Rouge and the Mayor’s Healthy City Program, the Healthy Corner Store Initiative (HCSI) is working with local businesses to improve access to healthy food. The HCSI identified six corner stores in affected areas as potential participants. The plan, according to Edgar Cage, co-chairman of the Together Baton Rouge Food Research Action Team, is to model the initiative after what other cities and areas have done. “Those that have been successful,” Cage says, “are public-private partnerships.”