What's the problem?
Environments that support a healthy diet are not spread equally throughout Cuyahoga County
In Cuyahoga County, there is an unfair burden of poor health among our low-income, under-resourced communities, specifically communities of color, youth, and older adults, largely due to patterns of sprawl and population shifts due to Federal and local housing and loan policies. Over the past few decades, many people have moved away from the city and inner-ring suburbs, known as the urban core. As people have moved away from these places, many of the businesses and services once available to support healthy eating and active living moved as well. Residents who remain in the urban core often find themselves living without grocery stores with fresh and healthy foods. But these issues are not limited to urban areas; other impoverished areas across the county also lack healthy food retail options.
What are we doing about it?
Visit our initiative pages
Food retail includes any place where food can be purchased. Some locations naturally provide a wide array of health promoting foods, such as supermarkets, grocery stores, farm stands and farmers’ markets. HIP-Cuyahoga has two current initiatives working in tandem to improve access to healthy food retail options in Cuyahoga County. Supermarkets are a cornerstone in neighborhoods, in addition to providing healthy food options. HIP-Cuyahoga’s
The Supermarket Strategy and Policy Group is working to understand Cuyahoga County’s supermarket landscape, barriers to supermarket development and sustainability, and working to overcome those barriers.
Supermarket Strategy and Policy
HIP-Cuyahoga is also helping existing neighborhood stores increase their availability of healthy offerings through theĀ Good Food HereĀ project.