Results
Thirty-two corner stores across Missouri are now considered healthy stores. That means, nearly 520,000 residents—spanning 20 rural and 12 urban neighborhoods—can buy fresh fruits and vegetables close to home. Almost 50 community partners, including hospitals and schools, worked together to provide store owners educational information and other resources on the benefits of healthy corner stores. Also, more than 60 in-store improvements were made. Examples include updates to food displays, replacing alcohol posters with SHSH signage, painting walls to attract customers to healthy food choices, and repositioning produce to make it easier for residents to choose healthier foods. With these improvements, evaluation data showed that stores now dedicate 20% more shelf space to healthier food selections.
What's Next
MDHSS will continue to seek out and partner with community organizations including University of Missouri Extension to make healthy living easier for residents. The university extension will continue to identify and work with corner stores across the state to set up SHSH programs. The university extension will also provide ongoing technical assistance and educational resources to help corner stores continue to offer healthy foods to Missouri residents.