Manuel Franco Speaks on Baltimore City Food Environment
Dec 10, 2015
In a special brown bag discussion, Manuel Franco, MD, PhD, co-editor of the Center for a Livable Future’s Fall 2010 Baltimore City Food Environment Report, presented the results of his extensive research examining inner city food disparities and possible solutions. Joining Dr. Franco were Joyce Smith, Director of Operation ReachOut SouthWest (OROSW), and Joel Gittelsohn, PhD, Associate Professor in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Human Nutrition. Using multiple researchers and collaborating with residents, community organizations, and business owners, contributors to the Baltimore City Food Environment Report have collectively been able to examine the food environment of in its entirety –considering all types of food stores and carry outs, and perspectives of residents and consumers.
Dr. Franco took direct measurements of the availability of healthy foods in Baltimore food stores, collecting data from 226 food stores in 159 neighborhoods. Ms. Smith offered insights on OROSW’s grassroots level approaches to improve access to healthy food in thirteen low-income neighborhoods in Southwest Baltimore, and Dr. Gittelsohn discussed efforts to convince Baltimore City storeowners to stock more nutritious food. Results from the Baltimore Healthy Stores project, an intervention trial targeting local corner store and supermarket owners to increase the availability and promote the purchase and consumption of nutritious foods, indicate that small food store-based intervention programs are a viable means of increasing healthy food availability and provide a good location for point-of-purchase promotions in low-income urban settings.
A growing body of public health evidence suggests that differential access to healthy foods contributes to racial health disparities and in Baltimore City, as in other US cities, such that the quality of the food environment in neighborhoods can be predicted by the predominant racial and socioeconomic categories in census tracts. In the words of Joyce Smith, “I don’t care if you’re black, white, rich or poor. We all want the same thing – good food.”
Inspired in part by the Center for a Livable Future’s GIS Maryland Food System Mapping Project, Baltimore’s local National Public Radio station, WYPR, has recently embarked on a food mapping project of its own, asking listeners to call in and report the price of a quart of non-organic, whole milk at their local grocery stores. After some fact checking, WYPR staff adds the crowd-sourced data to a map showcasing the difference in food pricing throughout Baltimore City. This Monday’s “Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast” will feature Eating for the Future Program Director Anne Palmer and Project Manager Amanda Behrens, who have been invited to comment on the Center for a Livable Future’s food system mapping project and food availability and pricing in Baltimore City.