Healthy Bodegas Initiative
Find out how:
In New York City, corner stores, or bodegas, are everywhere, and many residents rely on them as an everyday source for their food. However, the selection of healthy choices at bodegas - like fruits and vegetables and low-fat milk -may be limited, as studies in Brooklyn (PDF) and Harlem (PDF) demonstrate.
Here are some things you can do to increase healthy choices at your bodega:
- Stock canned fruit "in its own fruit juice" or with "no sugar added"
- Stock 2 kinds of fresh fruits and 2 kinds of fresh vegetables (not including white potatoes, onions, lemons or limes)
- Stock low-fat milk (1% or fat-free)
- Stock low-salt (not more than 290mg/serving) or "no salt added" canned vegetables or soup
- Stock whole grain bread (at least 2g fiber/slice and whole grain listed as first ingredient)
- Stock 2 healthier snack items (for example, pretzels, baked chips, unsalted nuts, and low-fat yogurt)
- Offer water or low-fat milk (1% or fat-free) as part of a breakfast or lunch combo
- Display bottled water at eye level in refrigerators
- Offer and promote a healthier sandwich
Need more help creating a healthier store? Email us at bodegas@health.nyc.gov.
Adopt-a-Bodega
The Health Department’s Healthy Bodegas Initiative can help you work with local stores to increase healthy offerings, like fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grain bread, low-fat milk, and low-salt and no-sugar-added canned goods. Its Adopt-A-Bodega program provides people and community organizations with the tools and support necessary to build relationships with bodegas and show community interest and demand for healthy foods.Want to adopt a bodega in your community? Check out our toolkit (PDF) for guidance and ideas. For more information, email us at bodegas@health.nyc.gov.
Deliver the cards below to your local bodega to show that there is demand for low-fat milk and/or fresh fruits and vegetables. You can order more postcards by calling 311 (keyword: postcard).
Program Background
Since January 2005, the Healthy Bodegas Initiative has worked with more than 1,000 bodegas in East and Central Harlem, the South Bronx and Central Brooklyn to increase access to and promote healthy foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grain bread, low-fat milk and dairy products, and low-salt and no-sugar-added canned goods.
Bodegas are encouraged to apply for permits allowing them to sell fresh produce on the sidewalk in front of the store to increase the space afforded to fresh produce, and to include healthier foods into their deli and grab-and-go sections. The Healthy Bodegas Initiative also helps stores promote and advertise their healthier items to customers through in-store displays, improved storage and shelving, promotional materials, and window advertisements.
In addition to working with bodegas to increase their supply of healthier foods, the Healthy Bodegas Initiative recognizes the importance of increasing customer demand for these healthier foods. To this end, the Initiative provides nutrition education and outreach in target communities. Residents are taught how and why to shop healthier and they are encouraged to ask for healthier items from their local stores, both as individuals and as part of their larger communities.
New York City Healthy Bodegas Initiative - 2010 Report (PDF)
