Overview

The Virtual Supermarket Project seeks to bring healthier foods to inner city neighborhoods through innovation in partnership with grocery stores that offer delivery services within Baltimore City.

As stated in the Food Policy Task Force Recommendations, Baltimore City is well documented as an example of under investment and food deserts.

Through a partnership with Santoni's Supermarket, consumers select foods they plan to purchase via the Santoni's Web site at a central community location. We have recently formed a partnership with Enoch-Pratt Free Libraries, and will conduct ordering sites at the Orleans and Washington Village Library Branches. Furthermore, we are performing site evaluations to develop a future site with City Recreation and Parks.

Consumers will receive a printout of their order and pay at the time of ordering with cash or money order presented to the organization that is sponsoring the aggregate purchase. The Virtual Supermarket submits one aggregate Internet order per session, and the Baltimore City Health Department subsidizes this delivery charge. Groceries will be delivered to the ordering site the same or next business day, where consumers will return to pick-up their orders. They will be provided with a list at the delivery time to confirm that all ordered items are included in their package.

This system benefits the consumer because a wider selection of high quality fruits, vegetables, grains, and dairy is made available in the neighborhood than is offered by local corner stores. Pooling purchases for delivery at one convenient site allows consumers to circumvent the delivery fee and the requirement that a certain amount of money be spent for the order to be delivered. Consumers do not have to navigate public transportation to get to the grocery store, nor will they have to manage hectic schedules and childcare to dedicate time to grocery shopping.

We have recently partnered with MICA's Center for Design Practice to develop branding, advertising, and marketing design for the Virtual Supermarket. Through this collaboration, we hope to provide MICA students with a background of the obstacles of food access in Baltimore City and build a lasting relationship with MICA. We also hope to use their work to facilitate and enhance efforts at social change in the future by ensuring that the partnership is long-term and continuous, even beyond the scope of the VSP.

We are also working with the Baltimore City Neighborhood Planners, specifically in the Washington Village area to promote the Virtual Supermarket, and have been working with members of key community organizations, including Open Gates People's Community Health Center, St. Jerome's Head Start, and George Washington Elementary, to promote and guide the project.

With a retail partner, community partners, and a creative design partner, the Virtual Supermarket will transform urban food deserts into neighborhoods that enjoy convenient, rapid access to less expensive, healthy food.

Implications

Development of this model in Baltimore can result in the Virtual Supermarket's adoption in other US cities that struggle with food deserts. The overall implication, of course, is for health. Risks for obesity, CVD, and diabetes are strongly tied to diet, and research has found consistent evidence that diet is greatly affected by one's food environment and built/social environment. That is, people's eating behaviors are largely influenced by their community context, which acts to promote or restrict healthy eating. Removal of an access barrier to healthier foods via the power of the marketplace will be an important step towards ensuring that all consumers in this country, regardless of location, race, or income levels, can enjoy a range of healthy foods at fair prices. In an era where over half of disease is caused by unhealthy lifestyles and the obesity epidemic is cutting lives short, public health agencies and grocery stores can partner in a win-win scenario to expand choice and, by proxy, improve the range of foods that enable urban consumers to eat healthy and live healthier lives.

Future Directions

The Virtual Supermarket will expand sites to other community rec and parks sites. We also hope to involve other major city grocers in the project. As sites develop, an educational component on healthy foods/lifestyles will be incorporated into the sessions, including cooking demonstrations.

The project is currently funded with a $60,000 dollar grant from the 2009 federal stimulus package.

• Contact:
• Laura Fox
• laura(dot)fox(at)baltimorecity(dot)gov
• 410-545-7544