Three stores participating in the Healthy Corner Stores initiative will host community events in August to promote healthy eating. Each event will offer a cooking demonstration, healthy recipes and opportunities for community members to share ideas about healthy food.
The events are scheduled as follows:
- Aug. 5, 3:30–5 p.m. at Shayan’s EZ Shop, 8505 Woodland Ave., Kansas City, Missouri.
- Aug. 6, 2–3:30 p.m. at Indiana Market, 3646 Indiana Ave., Kansas City, Missouri.
- Aug. 13, 9:30–11 a.m. at IB Dollar, 4614 St. John Ave., Kansas City, Missouri.
The Healthy Corner Stores program helps make it easier to find fresh, canned or frozen fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy products, whole grain foods, healthy beverages and healthy snacks at convenience stores in areas that don’t have a full-line grocery store nearby.
“Residents should be able to buy items like fruit, vegetables and healthy cereals in their neighborhoods just as conveniently as they can buy chips and soda.” said Connie Farakhan, Healthy Corner Stores project contact at the Kansas City, Missouri, Health Department. “The store owners would like to hear about the types of healthy items that customers would like to buy in the neighborhood stores – not just at the large grocery stores that are farther away.”
The Jackson County Healthy Corner Store Initiative is part of a larger effort to reduce the prevalence of chronic disease called Building a Healthier Jackson County. Partners supporting this effort include the Kansas City, Missouri, Health Department; Independence Health Department; Jackson County Health Department, the University of Missouri Extension; 4H; the University of Kansas Medical Center; and MARC. Building a Healthier Jackson County is supported in part by funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For more information about the Health Corner Store Initiative, visit Mid-America Regional Council.