Food Policy Task Force Recommendation “Expand Healthy Food Retailing in Food Deserts”
Baltimore has a remarkable opportunity to work with carryouts within the city’s six public markets; all of which are located in or near food deserts. A recent food assessment revealed that there were 100 carryout vendors throughout the six markets, making up 70% of all food vendors. View the Executive Summary of the assessment
BFPI is working closely with Lexington Market and Baltimore Public Markets to support and work with existing prepared food vendors in public markets. The initiative, Get Fresh Public Markets, will increase the promotion and availability of healthy food options in a way that is cost-effective for vendors. It is modeled after evidence-based strategies from Baltimore Healthy Carryouts, an intervention study conducted by Dr. Joel Gittelsohn at the Center of Nutrition at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Get Fresh Public Markets will increase healthy food availability through:
- A healthy carryout strategy and certification
- Increased demand among consumers
- Urban Farmer Day Stalls
- Healthy Food and Fitness Strategy
This will serve as a prototype for a healthy public market strategy that will be scaled up to work with over 80 carryout vendors across Baltimore’s six public markets. Here is a presentation with more information on the public market initiative in Baltimore.