Conference on Access to Food, September 18-19, 1995, Report of the Proceedings


                             Conference on Access to Food
                               September 18 and 19, 1995
                                 Report of the Proceedings


                                     November 1996

                                  Author:  Robin D. Koralek



Submitted by:                   Submitted to:
KRA Corporation                 U.S. Department of Agriculture
1010 Wayne Avenue               Food and Consumer Service
Suite 850                       Office of Analysis & Evaluation
Silver Spring, MD 20910         3101 Park Center Drive
                                Alexandria, VA 22302

Project Director:                       Project Officer: 
Ed Rugenstein                           Kilolo Kijakazi



   This document was prepared under Contract Number 53-3198-4-023 between the 
Department of Agriculture  and KRA Corporation of Silver Spring, Maryland. The 
contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of 
the Department, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or 
organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.



                  US Department of Agriculture
                   Food and Consumer Service
               
                  Conference on Access to Food
                   September 18 and 19, 1995
 
                   Report of the Proceedings


The Conference on Access to Food, held in Washington, D.C., on 
September 18 and 19, 1995, was sponsored by the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) Food and Consumer Service (FCS).  The 
conference was held to bring together food access experts to share 
their knowledge and help USDA build an agenda to increase access 
to food for low-income Americans.

The Honorable Dan Glickman, Secretary, USDA, opened the conference 
and stated that restricted or limited [food] access undermines 
[USDA's] ability to promote health through nutrition because if 
prices are too high, there is not enough bang for the buck for 
Food Stamps and WIC benefits, or if choices are limited . . .  
[Americans] can't make the choices that nutrition education 
efforts encourage them to make.  Ellen Haas, Under Secretary, 
Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, said that access to food 
is a key component of USDA's comprehensive food policy.  The three 
components are as follows:

        Nutrition Assistance Programs-Child Nutrition Programs, the 
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, 
and Children (WIC), the Food Stamp Program, and others form a 
network of food and nutrition assistance to ensure access to 
nutritious diets.

        Nutrition Education-The policy provides knowledge and skills 
allowing Americans to make healthy food choices. 

        Access to Food-The policy ensures individuals the opportunity 
to purchase foods for a healthy diet through access to full-
line food stores. 

Although access to food has been the least visible component of 
USDA's comprehensive food policy, it is an important one.  Under 
Secretary Haas said that without access to high quality, 
affordable food the effectiveness of our nutrition assistance 
programs and nutrition education initiatives are lessened. 

USDA is focusing its efforts on the problem of food access through 
several initiatives.  Current efforts include a study of 
authorized food stamp retailers.  This nearly completed study 
gathered information in a number of areas, including access to 
food.  A second study, a national survey of food stamp households, 
is in its initial stages and asks recipients about their access to 
food.  USDA is conducting another study that will identify 
strategies that communities have implemented to improve access to 
food.  This study will provide technical assistance to communities 
that want to improve access but do not have the experience or 
resources.

The conference addressed issues of access to food in urban and 
rural underserved areas and  provided a forum for discussing 
successful strategies for increasing access to food through the 
development of full-line, affordable food stores and alternative 
means such as farmers' markets and transportation options.  It 
also provided a discussion forum for experts in supermarket and 
food store development, economic development, and food policy.  
Mr. Paul Pryde of the Capital Access Group, LLC discussed the link 
between food and economic development.  Supermarkets, or other 
food distribution businesses, can affect inner city development in 
four ways:  by serving as an anchor for commercial property 
investments; by providing jobs to community residents; by 
improving residential property values; and by "providing life" to 
nearby businesses.  Several efforts to link improved food access 
to local economic development were also identified during the 
conference.

Ms. Sheryll Cashin, Staff Director of the Community Empowerment 
Board at the White House, further underscored the importance of 
the connection between food access and economic development, 
especially with regard to the Empowerment Zone and Enterprise 
Community  (EZ/EC) Program.  She said that this program provides a 
context that can help reduce the timeframe required to get food 
access initiatives--like supermarket development--implemented.  
EZs and ECs are working within a comprehensive strategic plan with 
input from residents, state and local governments, and business 
leaders.  These are the same groups needed to implement food 
access initiatives.

The 2-day conference included three plenary sessions covering 
issues such as food access and community and economic development. 
A series of concurrent workshops allowed for presentations and 
open discussion among conference attendees on a variety of topics. 
Presenters included retailers representing small and moderate food 
stores as well as supermarkets; wholesalers; community and 
economic development specialists; food access advocates; 
representatives from financial institutions; academicians; 
community residents; and others.  The conference attracted more 
than 150 participants representing  Empowerment Zones and 
Enterprise Communities; nonprofits; private industry; financial 
institutions; advocacy groups; academia; foundations; and Federal, 
State, and local governments.

Several food access alternatives were discussed during the 
conference, ranging from supermarket development to improved 
transportation options.  When addressing improved access to food, 
supermarket development is often the first option considered. 
However, in some communities, supermarket development may not be 
possible in the immediate future.  In these instances, other 
options may be considered.  For example, improved transportation 
may allow residents to reach a full-line supermarket a few miles 
away.  Farmers' markets or public markets can provide quality 
produce and other foods at reasonable costs with little overhead 
investment while keeping profits in the community.  In densely 
populated urban areas, space is often at a premium; a smaller 
independent store could provide quality, nutritious food in a much 
smaller space.  In addition, several presenters discussed the 
issue of food security.  

The three key themes that emerged from the conference were:

                Supermarket development

                Alternatives to supermarkets 

                Food security

Each of these topics is discussed in detail below.


Supermarket Development

The supermarket industry is the primary source of food for the 
majority of Americans.  However, according to Mr. Andy Fisher of 
the Community Food and Security Coalition, between the 1970s and 
the 1990s supermarkets abandoned the inner city and many other 
distressed communities. Inadequate access to proper foods is 
frequently due to lack of access to supermarkets or to 
supermarkets  with good quality produce and other foods at a 
reasonable price.  Consequently, an important component of 
community development is the revitalization of inner-city 
neighborhoods and other distressed communities through the 
establishment of supermarkets.  Many communities are focusing 
revitalization efforts on the establishment of much-needed 
supermarkets.  There are different types of supermarkets that can 
be brought into a community, ranging from large regional chains, 
local chains, and franchises, to voluntary operators who are 
financed and serviced by a wholesaler, who  typically provides 
independent stores with inventory and assistance in a variety of 
areas such as layout and marketing. 

To successfully develop a supermarket, panel presenters 
recommended the following:

        -Invest in credible, unbiased marketing research that 
demonstrates a need for a supermarket in that area.  In 
addition, research should show that local residents will shop 
at a supermarket in this location.

        -Develop a well-researched, well-written business plan that 
incorporates potential problems and solutions.

        -Develop a solid partnership between the private sector, 
local government, and the community.  This should include 
financial commitments from a variety of sources.

        -Develop a good relationship with a wholesaler-one that 
provides guidance in the areas of marketing, construction, 
legal issues, and accounting, among others. 

        -Foster community support, or a sense of ownership, on the 
part of local residents.  
        
        -Secure adequate working capital, or cash, on sensible terms. 
Adequate cash is necessary to attract the kind of management 
needed to implement and operate a full-scale food store.  In 
addition, capital is needed for marketing and advertising 
once the store is in operation.

        -Access quality management and technical assistance.

Several presenters stressed that access to adequate funding is a 
central issue when developing a supermarket in an economically 
distressed area.  According to Ms. Pamela Fairclough of the 
Community Food Resource Center, there are multiple costs 
associated with supermarket development.  Soft costs are those 
that are needed to cover preliminary market analysis, feasibility 
studies, environmental reviews, zoning changes, and draft 
architectural and engineering plans.  For the most part, these 
activities are not financeable up front so the supermarket 
developer has to cover these costs.  Alternatively, if the 
supermarket is being developed by a Community Development 
Corporation (CDC), these startup costs will have to be financed by 
CDC or other development corporations.  Construction and 
renovation costs may come from conventional banks, wholesalers, or 
out of pocket.  Finally, permanent financing for operating the 
supermarket must be secured from similar sources.

There are numerous sources of capital for financing supermarket 
development.  Among these are conventional banks, CDCs, private 
funders, wholesalers, foundations, community groups, and 
government entities. The collateral for these loans is often the 
store inventory and the property lease.  Often, developers need to 
be aggressive and creative when securing capital; perhaps looking 
at a mixture of funding sources in order to secure adequate funds. 
 
Conventional banks are often a source of financing for commercial 
ventures. Many banks have community development subsidiaries or 
components and finance commercial development in targeted inner-
city developments and other distressed areas.  The Community 
Reinvestment Act (CRA) is a Federal law that governs the banking 
community's responsibility to invest capital in low-income 
neighborhoods.  This law requires banks to lend where they do 
business, thus banks are often looking for CRA-eligible projects. 
However, according to Ms. Pamela Fairclough,  the stringent 
documentation required to receive a bank loan often prohibits 
supermarket operators from applying for a loan.  In addition, 
operators in economically distressed communities may not qualify 
for a bank loan because of their level of equity investment and 
the high risk associated with the project.  It is important to 
remember that banks are looking to make money so they will 
carefully study the project team and history. 

Mr. Lamont Blackstone of The Retail Initiative, Inc. (TRI) 
discussed the way in which his organization invests in inner city 
retail development.  TRI invests equity capital on behalf of ten 
institutional investors including the City of Philadelphia's 
public pension fund. There is a large pool of investment capital 
in the form of both public and private pension funds that needs to 
be tapped and channeled into inner city development. The 
challenge, according to Mr. Blackstone, is to ". . . develop a 
strategy that will allow these institutional investors to invest 
their capital profitably and at market rates of return, or close 
to market rates of return, at the same time investing that capital 
at levels of risk that [investors] deem acceptable."

Ms. Ann Rosewater, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and 
External Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), 
discussed several programs offered by her Department which can 
fund food access initiatives.  First, DHHS monies finance the 
EZ/EC program.  Second, this Department strengthens community 
development corporations through their Urban and Rural Economic 
Development Program.  In addition, they fund business development, 
microenterprise, business incubation, and building renovation.

Speakers from several other Federal agencies described programs 
that may assist the financing of a grocery store in an 
economically distressed area or provide economic incentives for 
development.  In addition to the designated Empowerment Zones and 
Enterprise Communities that provide tax incentives, block grants, 
private sector investment, and other financial assistance, the 
Federal Government sponsors several programs that assist in 
development activities, either through financial or technical 
assistance.  Among these programs are the following:

        -Urban Development Action Grant Program, Department of 
Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-A financial resource made 
available to eligible communities to support the development 
of physical infrastructure that leads to the creation of 
shopping and other neighborhood centers often housing 
supermarkets

        -Economic Development Administration (EDA), Department of 
Commerce-Technical assistance, grants, and assistance with 
infrastructure development through a network of over 300 
economic development districts  

        -The Small Business Administration (SBA)-Loans and small 
business startup assistance, including special programs for 
minority business owners.  A microloan program incorporates a 
wide array of technical assistance  

        -One-Stop Capital Shops, SBA-Private loans and equity 
investments in underserved markets 

        -Rural Business and Cooperative Development Service, USDA-
Farm loans, operating loans, intermediary lending, and loan 
guarantees to single family businesses, among others
 
        -Community Food and Nutrition Program, Department of Health 
and Human Services-As part of the Community Services Block 
Grant funds for food access programs

Funds can be secured through private groups such as wholesalers 
and supermarket chains willing to move into the area.  Foundations 
and community development organizations are also good sources of 
funding for supermarkets as part of a community revitalization 
effort.  For example, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation 
wanted a supermarket to come in to the Bed-Stuy community.  
Numerous supermarkets were approached with no success until 
Pathmark Stores, Incorporated agreed to come in on the condition 
that the Restoration Corporation be willing to invest in the 
project.  Mr. Roderick Mitchell of the Bedford Stuyvesant 
Restoration Corporation and Mr. Stan Sorkin of Pathmark Stores, 
Incorporated discussed this partnership between a supermarket 
corporation and a CDC-one in which the community development 
corporation became a part owner (67 percent) in a supermarket. 

Another option for securing funding is through community 
organizations such as churches and other groups that create 
funding pools for initiatives to benefit the local community.  
These pools are often made available to entrepreneurs who cannot 
get money from a conventional banking establishment.  

Community acceptance is integral to the success of a supermarket. 
Not only is the supermarket  providing a product to the community, 
it is also providing jobs to local residents and keeping money in 
the community.  Securing the support of the local governing body 
is fundamental.  The mayor or city council can be highly 
influential in working with the mortgage holders, banks, and 
lending institutions.  In addition, according to Mr. James 
O'Connor of O'Connor & Abell, Inc. and other presenters, having 
the support or assistance of a prominent city official can help in 
dealing with zoning, tax, and other issues that may affect an 
organization's decision to come into a community.  Often it is a 
joint effort between the real estate developer, supermarket 
manager, and the community that can get a project up and running. 
 

Selecting the type of supermarket is significant in determining 
the success of a food store.  In Liberty City, Florida, 
negotiating a lease with a Triple A chain supermarket was the key 
to making the whole effort work.  According to Ms. Sandra 
Rosenblith of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), 
bringing in a high-quality, well-recognized store became the focus 
of their development efforts.  In trying to locate a large tenant, 
one group found they had to entice the tenant with lower-than-
market rents.  They were able to do this because they were a 
quasi-public entity and had money from LISC, the Ford Foundation, 
and other places that they pooled together, allowing them to 
deliver the store on the terms that the chain demanded-below-
market rate rent with renewable short-term leases rather than the 
traditional 10- to 15-year lease. 

Location is another factor to consider in supermarket development. 
Large chains will conduct their own market study to justify 
entering a location. Convenience is a major factor for consumers 
when selecting their store.  Consideration should be given to the 
large amount of land that it takes to develop supermarkets at the 
scale that consumers are accustomed to.  Supermarkets need to have 
enough land for the store and adequate parking, calculated by the 
store's square footage.  Additionally, land in urban areas is very 
expensive.

As part of an economic development effort, small businesses can 
sometimes be encouraged to locate in the same complex as the 
supermarket so that they can take advantage of the traffic 
generated by the supermarket and create a whole commercial 
revitalization program up and down the corridor.  The new shopping 
center, anchored by a supermarket, can become the catalyst for 
revitalizing the rest of the community.  Mr. Arnold Montgomery of 
Aurora and Mr. Henry Edwards of Finast Supermarkets discussed 
their efforts in the development of a supermarket in Liberty City, 
Florida.  Among other undertakings, the developing group had to 
negotiate the lease with smaller tenants, some of whom needed 
technical assistance in putting together their businesses and 
securing loans from local institutions.

Rural communities have issues specific to them when it comes to 
financing a supermarket.  Mr. Dayton Watkins, Acting Administrator 
of the Rural Business and Cooperative Development Service (RBCDS), 
USDA, said that these communities do not receive all of the 
benefits of the market place that more urban areas get.  
Therefore, they need Federal, State, and local governments, as 
well as community development corporations and nonprofit 
organizations to fill the void.  The RBCDS guaranteed loan program 
does just that. 

Mr. Don Clark of Covington Foods, Inc. mentioned that small-town 
banks usually have inadequate loan limits and cannot finance a 
project as large as a supermarket.  Rural developers can qualify 
for a RBCDS Business and Industry Loan.  RBCDS  will guarantee up 
to 90 percent of a conventional bank loan.  However, rural bankers 
may not be familiar with this option.  RBCDS/USDA has field staff 
that are community development specialists who will help rural 
communities solve their problems.  Assistance includes a variety 
of financial programs as well as technical assistance specifically 
designed for rural communities.


Another option is to affiliate with a wholesaler who provides the 
developer with services such as site analysis, market research, 
retail accounting, development engineering, and legal counsel, in 
addition to a large part of the goods to be sold.  The wholesaler 
can become a very important part of the support team for a small-
town supermarket.  


Alternatives to Supermarkets

To meet the needs of an ever-growing population, we need to look 
at a number of different strategies to achieve food security for 
individuals. There are several alternatives to traditional 
supermarkets as a means of ensuring access to food.  These 
alternatives, according to several presenters, including Ms. Leta 
Mach of the National Cooperative Business Association and Ms. 
Linda Thompson of L.L. Thompson and Associates, often provide 
better, more nutritious foods at a lower price than do local food 
stores.  Additionally, many of them encourage community self-
sufficiency through the improvement of a community's ability to 
function independently and provide food for itself.  These 
alternatives include the following:

                Food Cooperatives

                Urban Agriculture

                Farmers' Markets

                Public Markets

                Small and Moderate Independent Stores

                Transportation Options

Each of these options is described in the sections that follow.


Food Cooperatives


Food cooperatives are customer-owned entities that are often 
formed to meet a need not being fulfilled by a traditional store, 
such as a supermarket.  For example, in a rural town where the  
supermarket has been closed down, residents must drive great 
distances to purchase food.  In response, they may get together 
and form their own food-buying club. Food cooperatives can range 
from an entity for ordering, purchasing, and distributing food (a 
food-buying club) to a store front where people can come to 
purchase food.  According to Ms. Mach, there are approximately 
4,000 cooperative food-buying clubs across the country.  In 
addition, there are approximately 400 store front cooperatives, 
that is, co-ops that have a store that people can walk into to 
purchase their food.  Nearly 1 million families currently rely on 
food cooperatives for affordable, quality food. 
 
There are a number of characteristics that define a cooperative:

        -Democratic Control-The consumers own the business and thus 
control it.  Members have a greater say in what types of 
foods will be available to them.  Larger co-ops often elect a 
board of directors that hires a manager to carry out the 
day-to-day operations of the co-op.  

        -Quality-Consumers trust co-ops to stock quality products and 
to provide high-quality service.  

        -Prices-Significant savings can be found at co-ops.  Prices 
can be kept low because they have been formed to meet the 
needs of the member/owners and not to meet the needs of 
shareholders who have invested in the venture for profit.  

The cooperative model, whether a food-buying club or a store 
front, works well in both urban and rural areas, according to Ms. 
Mach.  Co-ops work well wherever there is a demand, or need, and a 
group of individuals willing to work to build their own business 
to meet that need.  Getting a co-op off the ground requires two 
things: a need that must be met and a leader-someone from the 
community who will drive or guide the process and get people 
together.  

Based on Mr. Mark Winne's experience in Hartford, Connecticut, 
another important factor in establishing a food co-operative is 
obtaining enough working capital to secure the type of management 
needed to successfully operate a food store.  Mr. Winne believes 
that one of the major mistakes the Hartford Food System made when 
establishing a supermarket co-operative was undercapitalizing the 
operation.  They spent considerably less on management than other 
supermarkets in the area and thus were not able to secure the type 
of management that could operate the store in a way that satisfied 
the customers. 

The relatively low success rates of food co-ops in very-low-income 
areas may be attributable to a lack of community support.  
According to Ms. Mach, to have success there must be some support 
from a community group, such as a church or community development 
organization, that gives the individuals the backing they need to 
build the leadership skills that enable the co-op or buying club 
to be a success.

Urban Agriculture

Urban agriculture is the growth of food within the inner-city 
community in which it will be consumed.  It can take place on 
large plots of land, producing fruits and vegetables for retail, 
or on the roofs of buildings, producing fresh vegetables for 
personal consumption.  According to Dr. Michael Hamm of Rutgers 
University, urban agriculture has two important functions: one is 
to serve as a more localized food supply, the other is more global 
in nature-demographic projections predict large global population 
increases over the next half century, leading to potentially 
greater instability in our food supply.  At the same time, we are 
expanding the globalization of our food supply and [decreasing] 
our use of more locally grown foods.  We are becoming more and 
more dependent on a far-flung food supply as population growth 
continues and as food instability appears to be increasing.

The increasing instability of our food supply forces us to think 
about the growing potential of the areas in which we live.  There 
is a need to work at maintaining our ability to produce food on 
farms that are close to our homes.  Additionally, we must develop 
our urban agriculture potential.  Urban agriculture can make a 
dent in local food supplies.  It also has strong nutritional 
implications.  USDA and the Department of Health and Human 
Services are promoting an increase in fresh fruit and vegetable 
intake.  So urban gardening, or on a larger scale, urban 
agriculture, can help inner-city individuals to meet the 
recommended allowance of five servings of fresh fruits and 
vegetables every day.

Urban agriculture does more than just grow food.  It maintains a 
rapidly disappearing culture, especially for former rural farmers 
who now live in urban areas.  Urban agriculture allows such people 
to pass on the cultural and practical knowledge that they have 
surrounding the growing of food.  It also allows for individuals 
in a community to develop an interest in maintaining the local 
ecosystem.  Children can learn about the environment in which they 
live through learning about nature and growing.  

There are different types of strategies for developing 
large-scale, small-plot gardening and agriculture within cities.  
Each project will take shape differently, depending upon the urban 
area.  It is best not to impose too much structure on the  
agricultural effort.  It should be something that community 
members develop so that they develop a sense of ownership and 
others respect and treat it as something that belongs to the 
community.

Urban agriculture can go beyond community gardens and producing 
food.  Many urban agriculture programs are created for youth.  The 
effort can be designed to relate to other community issues such as 
providing alternatives for community youth so that they do not get 
involved with drugs out of a lack of something to do.  Safe havens 
for local children can be created by using sunflower houses where 
children can relax and feel safe. The sunflower houses are areas 
of the gardens with fully grown sunflowers which form a sheltered 
area where children can play.  Dr. Hamm commented that:

        In developing children's gardens it is clear that a single 
input, the garden, can create multiple outputs.  The youth 
grow food and learn gardening, science, and ecology.  By the 
incorporation of keeping a journal and recording their 
experiences they practice their writing skills.  The 
measurement of the plants as they grow yields the development 
of math skills.  Children planting flowers around the 
community promotes pride and a sense of ownership.

Numerous other strategies have been incorporated around the 
country.  For example, interactions among local farmers and urban 
youth can be fostered by having local high school students work 
with the local farmers.  The students work with the farmers to get 
the produce from them.  They then set up a farm stand in the 
community and sell the produce.  Although not directly urban 
agriculture, it can strengthen the local agriculture in the 
communities surrounding the urban center through the creation of  
a strong linkage between farmers and the urban area. 

Food from the Hood, an urban agriculture Project in Los Angeles, 
California, was started by a biology teacher, Ms. Tammy Bird.  
This is a student-owned company, prompted in part by the Los 
Angeles riots. Students raise produce and take it to farmers' 
markets and sell the produce themselves.  Currently, their main 
product is a salad dressing that they distribute through a  
manufacturer and a broker.  Food from the Hood now sells its 
products in over 2,000 stores across the country.  Forty percent 
of the company profits go back into the business while the 
remaining  60 percent is used for college scholarships.  The 
students have established their own rules and guidelines that 
include a system of student owner levels that incorporates an 
internship in the program.  Although the students are learning a 
great deal about agriculture, the teacher's primary goal is to 
empower the students and teach them leadership skills.  

Farmers' Markets

Ms. Linda Thompson of L.L. Thompson and Associates described a 
farmer's market as a group that brings together producers with 
consumers at the same time and place, usually once or twice a 
week, to market such items as fresh vegetables, produce, cheese, 
and  meats.  This system of direct marketing saves consumers money 
through the elimination of the middle man because food goes 
directly from the growers to the consumers.  Farmers' markets can 
range from a small, community-based market to a large market run 
by  an organization of farmers serving several thousand shoppers. 

Benefits to low-income communities are numerous and include 
improved access to fresh farm-grown products, often at lower 
prices than at local supermarkets, and  improved diets through 
increased consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Many 
farmers' markets accept food stamps as well as WIC farmers' market 
coupons.  Farmers' markets also provide a place for community 
members to gather and meet and are thus a good place for community 
events because of the social atmosphere.  For example, political 
candidates campaign at farmers' markets, health information is 
disseminated, and blood screenings and numerous educational events 
are conducted. 

According to Ms. Thompson, farmers' markets have a potential for 
economic opportunity; this is especially important in light of the 
changes occurring in the welfare system.  As governmental food 
programs are cut, current recipients need to become more 
self-sufficient and move from governmental dependency to food 
self-sufficiency.  Communities need to provide education that 
incorporates nutrition education as well as plan programs for food 
access.  

Community gardening, that is a community growing its own produce 
and setting up a small market,  can be used to provide a means for 
communities to make some money and provide a source of affordable, 
quality food for residents.  It also provides an economic 
opportunity for the community, keeping the dollars within that 
community.  This is especially important for inner-city 
communities where dollars often go out and don't come back in.  
Food security is increased and the  community is brought together. 
 
The WIC Farmers' Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) provides coupons 
to WIC participants to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at 
authorized farmers' markets. Coupons are distributed to 
participants through a staggered process that corresponds with the 
growing period.  The program provides special buying power to 
community residents that helps sustain and support the market and 
has been a catalyst for establishing farmers' markets' in low-
income areas.  Eleven States and approximately half-a-million 
people participated in this program in 1994.

Public Markets

A public market, according to Mr. Aaron Zaretsky of the Grove 
Arcade Public Market Foundation,  is a carefully crafted 
intentional and diverse medley of owner operated shops, stalls, 
and/or day tables.  [Public markets] exist to fill a public 
purpose and [reflect] what is distinctive about a community while 
meeting its everyday shopping needs.  Public markets are important 
for community economic development because they provide jobs for 
low-income communities, putting money in their pockets, enabling 
them to spend the money in the community. Many local governments, 
economic development groups, and nonprofits see public markets as 
one of the most effective ways to revitalize center cities while 
providing jobs and economic opportunity for residents.  The U.S. 
Economic Development Administration performed an audit on Pike 
Place Market in Seattle, Washington, and found that the one-time, 
$7-million grant invested in the redevelopment of the market was 
the most successful economic development project in history, 
turning a one-time capital investment into long-term, well-paying 
jobs.  

Public markets require initial capital support but do not require 
operating support.  They have been found to return more than 10 
times the amount of taxes to the community than the initial public 
investment.  Public markets make use of existing infrastructure, 
typically located in downtown areas, to  provide goods and 
services that encourage and support neighboring residential 
communities.  They keep profits circulating in the community while 
generating millions of dollars in tax revenue.  Additionally, 
public markets are labor intensive, providing numerous jobs, with 
low overhead for vendors.

Benefits of public markets include: 

        -Encouragement of entrepreneurship, including cottage 
industries such as small farmers and artisans

        -Provision of nutritious and affordable food 

        -Incubation of new business, including minority and women-
owned businesses

        -Creation of a sense of community ownership, and 
participation

        -Creation of a safe and vital environment for the community

Small and Moderate Independent Stores

The development of many independently owned, small-scale, full-
service grocery stores has often been in response to the flight of 
supermarkets from the inner city, according to Mr. Sigmund Balka 
of Krasdale foods, Inc. and other presenters.  These smaller 
stores are better able to match the ethnicity of the neighborhoods 
and stock foods and other products that meet the demands of the 
consumers.  Currently there is a need to convince investors that 
there's a huge market area not being adequately tapped in urban 
areas.  For example, in Los Angeles,  Rebuild LA identified two 
major needs: economic development and the revitalization of vacant 
properties.  According to Ms. Linda Wong of Rebuild LA, many of 
these neighborhoods had tremendous economic vitality, such as an 
industry, but needed support systems for the community.  Their 
efforts have involved developing a half-dozen properties at once. 
A community needs assessment showed demand for a full-service 
grocery store that provides fresh produce and meat as well as 
canned goods and staple foods.  

Small and moderate independent stores face many problems due to 
their size and lack of affiliation with a large, capital-rich 
organization.  For example, because they do not purchase large 
quantities as do larger supermarkets, independent stores often 
have trouble capturing economies of scale.  That is, because these 
stores do not purchase in bulk quantities, they must pay higher 
prices for their inventories.  Consequently, they must charge 
consumers more for their goods.  In addition, they often lack the 
resources to expand and upgrade their stores or market 
effectively.  One solution is to join a voluntary.  A voluntary, 
according to Mr. Balka, is a concept whereby food wholesalers 
provide independent stores with financial, management, and 
technical assistance on a continuing basis.  The independent 
stores that are members of the voluntary trade under a common name 
and engage in joint purchasing and joint advertising.  This allows 
them to compete with major stores.  Smaller stores may also 
benefit from assistance offered through various Federal programs, 
including those highlighted under the Supermarket Development 
section.

Transportation Options

According to Mr. Michael Freedberg of The Center for Neighborhood 
Technology, the issue of access to supermarkets in the inner city 
is magnified by the low percentage of people who have access to 
cars.  The dislocation of supermarkets and grocery stores from the 
inner city has left few acceptable food stores for residents.  The 
Center for Neighborhood Technology in Chicago is addressing this 
issue by putting together an alternative transportation strategy 
that examines the  critical needs of a community and how 
transportation systems can meet that goal.  They have formed a 
commission to look at compact land development around transit 
hubs.  Suggestions to improve access include placing markets, day 
care centers, and other community amenities around the public 
transit stops in the inner city. Through promoting 
microdevelopment around the individual transit stops, transit 
stops can become the center of activity in the community and begin 
to have a regional impact along the transportation corridor.  By 
demonstrating the impact of having retail services at this transit 
station on  ridership, the commission has been able to forecast 
reduced automobile traffic and show how that will help the region 
meet its air quality goals under the Clean Air Act.  This has 
enabled them to leverage millions of dollars in transportation 
funds that would otherwise have gone to suburban highway 
construction.



Food Security

Food security advocates believe that the concept of food security 
has replaced the concept of hunger among social welfare and 
antihunger advocates in the United States, creating a change in 
the way that we think about hunger as a problem in this country.  
It moves the concept of hunger from being an individual's problem 
to that of a community need.  Food security is a prevention-
oriented concept that looks at the access to food resources within 
a given community.  The Community Food Security Coalition defines 
food security as "all persons obtaining at all times a culturally 
acceptable, nutritionally adequate diet through local non-
emergency sources (1)."  The concept of food security incorporates 
and addresses the ability of individuals to prepare foods and  
their  level of economic resources to purchase food; a community's 
access to land for growing food and enhancing community food 
supplies; the ownership of food-related businesses; the 
connections of farmers and food processors to communities and 
markets; and the ability of community organizations to ensure 
access and availability of food.  According to Dr. Kate Clancy of 
Syracuse University, a food secure community is one where all of 
its members have access through normal, non-charitable means to 
adequate, culturally appropriate, nutritious food supplies 
whenever they need them.

Using Biddle's definition of community development: a social 
process by which human beings can become more competent to live 
with and gain some control over local aspects of a frustrating and 
changing world, food security is an integral aspect of community 
development. That is, a community is not fully developed until it 
is food secure and community development cannot  take place 
without attention to food security.  However, there has not been a 
great deal of interaction between food security and community 
organizing/community development work in this country.  This may 
be due, in part, to the fact that many community development 
projects, while useful,  are driven by economics rather than by 
human growth.  In addition, food has become such a commodity, and 
so taken for granted, that people assume it is available only 
through commercial transactions. 

Food security advocates believe that there are many ways to attain 
food security and all of these options should be explored 
simultaneously.  Among these options are cooperatives, food 
exchanges, community service, public markets, enhanced 
transportation, urban agriculture, and farmers' markets.  
Community development projects should be strongly encouraged to 
incorporate food centered thinking into their working planning 
activities'.  

The Community Food Security Act of 1995 was initially introduced 
to Congress on July 11, 1995, as a means of promoting food 
security.  These provisions were enacted as part of the Federal 
Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-127).  
The legislation provides for $1 million in fiscal year 1996 and up 
to $2.5 million per year from fiscal year 1997 through 2002 for 
assistance to community food projects.  These projects should be 
"designed to meet the food needs of low-income people, increase 
the self-reliance of communities in providing for their own food 
needs, and promote comprehensive responses to local food, farm, 
and nutrition issues.  The Act is intended to yield a variety of 
food projects such as urban agriculture, community gardens, 
farmers' markets, inner city food store development, and 
microenterprises creating linkages between sectors of the food 
system. 

"Seeds of Change: Strategies for Food Security in the Inner-city," 
a study conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles  
(UCLA), identified numerous solutions to the problem of lack of 
access to nutritionally adequate diets (2).  These solutions 
include working with smaller stores to enable them to sell 
nutritional items at lower prices, urban agriculture, farmers' 
markets, joint ventures between CDCs and supermarkets, 
microenterprises, buying clubs, and food policy councils.  Food 
security advocates believe that there is no single answer to the 
dilemma of food access; rather, a mixture of approaches must be 
developed and implemented. 


Summary

The conference closed with a discussion of what should be done 
next to increase and ensure access to food in inner city and rural 
communities.  Mr. Michael Fishman, Acting Director, Office of 
Analysis and Evaluation, FCS, USDA commented that "there is room 
for everybody under the tent of food access, that there is enough 
need out there that the challenge is. . . to try to help people 
get the access to food that they need."  Presenters discussed ways 
in which private, non-profit, local, and Federal entities need to 
get involved in the promotion of access to food.

Mr. Roy Priest, Director of the Office of Economic Development, 
HUD, said ". . . we've got to look at integrated strategies.  
. . . you've got to bring together a collaborative framework that 
allows you to address [issues] holistically.  And if you don't do 
that, then I think you're going to have a very difficult time 
being able to create any kind of long-term, sustained change in 
these communities.

Mr. Zy Weinberg of Public Voice for Food and Health Policy said 
that ". . . successful supermarket development and operation must 
be a community-wide effort, with the collaboration of [a] whole 
range of non-profits. . ., for-profit companies, including banks, 
the grocery industry and its suppliers, unions, and government at 
all levels, Federal, state, and local. . ."  Ms. Karen Brown of 
the Food Marketing Institute supported this by saying ". . . 
revitalization will come only through public-private partnerships 
involving coalitions of business, community, and government 
leaders at the local level."

The creation of food security must include a variety of efforts 
within a community-projects such as farmers' markets and public 
markets, urban agriculture, food groups collaborating  with 
community development corporations and  food retailers, and food 
policy councils, among others.  As Mr. Andy Fisher said, there is 
no magic solution to food insecurity . . . it is really a kind of 
basket of solutions that needs to be addressed and needs to be 
developed. 




End Notes

1.      "The Community Food Security Empowerment Act. January 1995." 
        The Community food Security Coalition, Hartford CT.

2.      "Seeds if Change: Strategies for Food Security for the Inner 
        City."  The Southern California Interfaith Hunger Coalition, 
        Los Angeles, California.  1993.
                                        *     *    *     *
 
961101.txt
OAE