WASHINGTON -- Earlier this summer, D.C. Central Kitchen launched its Healthy Corners program, which provides corner stores with low-cost fresh fruit and vegetable options. Now, the community organization has released a shiny new video that shows the program in action.
The initiative, which serves areas in the District of Columbia's Ward 5, 7 and 8 designated as food deserts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, also provides free refrigeration units to store the goods, nutritional education, marketing support and technical assistance.
The program has partners in the D.C.'s Department of Small and Local Business, which provided a $300,000 grant and D.C. Hunger Solutions, which is helping the program operate.
In August, D.C. Central Kitchen chief executive Michael F. Curtin Jr. told The Washington Post that investing in new equipment was important:
By providing free refrigeration and low-cost produce for several months, Healthy Corners is essentially lowering the barrier of entry into the fresh food market for these stores, Curtin says. "We understand that this is a risk" for retailers, Curtin acknowledges. "We're going to remove this risk. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work and we'll move on."
Watch the video above.