The Circle Food Store, a New Orleans landmark heavily damaged in Hurricane Katrina, will be coming back. A groundbreaking ceremony was held to dedicate the rebuilding of the famous store.

A group of concerned students in Watsonville, CA formed Jóvenes SANOS, a program working to raise awareness about childhood obesity and implement policies that promote healthy nutrition and physical activity. This case study highlights the Watsonville Healthy Markets Pilot Program where students have successfully engaged local corner stores in marketing and promoting healthier food options. The program has contributed to substantial health improvements and decreased the County’s obesity rate.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Growing Power, a leading local urban agriculture organization, announced the launch of Farmer’s for Chicago, a new program that will make available up to five acres of City-owned vacant lots for urban farming activity, and help expand the supply chain for local neighborhood-level food production and wholesale. The city lots will be prepared for local nonprofits that will be able to install food growing equipment, and train up to 20 people in urban farming and skills

In an area where fresh foods are not readily accessible, the opening of a new supermarket is music to the ears of residents in the East Baltimore community near Broadway and North Avenue.Six years in the planning, this weekend marks the grand opening of the new Apples and Oranges.Owners are positioning the market as one that will not only offer healthier foods but will serve as a resource on how to eat healthier as well. Community leaders hope this will attract other businesses to the city.

In a dismal week for the U.S. economy featuring debt-ceiling drama in Washington and the threat of a double-dip recession on Wall Street, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) delivered some powerhouse statistics demonstrating the public's demand for healthy, organic food: The number of farmers markets in the country increased 17 percent in the last year. "There's a yearning for the 99 percent of Americans who are no longer connected to the farm to reconnect," Kathleen Merrigan, deputy secretary of the USDA, said.

The number of farmers’ markets in the U.S. has nearly doubled since 2004, to more than 7,000, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, throwing a lifeline to struggling family farms. Though only about 2 percent of farm sales in the U.S. are retail, the USDA estimates that consumers spent $1 billion at farmers’ markets last year. While the rising popularity of locally sourced food is contributing to the increase, competition from agribusiness is also spurring small farmers to reserve a spot at the local market.

An issue brief that explains the importance of developing health corner stores with local food sources in order to improve profitability and more importantly, increase access to healthy foods.  Points that are included in this brief: Identifying and selecting a supplier and/or distribution model, ensuring profitability of the model for both suppliers and store owners, accounting for limited seasonality of produce in many parts of the country, understanding consumer preferences and creating customer demand, improving corner store infrastructure and owner familarity with selling produce, and building long - term sustainability and economic benefit.

Dahl’s Foods introduced snack stations for its youngest customers. For a donation of a quarter, kids can choose a snack from a rotating selection — including items like bananas, raisins, oranges, fruit leather or organic chocolate squares. The chain has long offered Brach’s candy for a quarter per three pieces, but wanted to bring in healthier options for children.

A guide to help retailers with: healthy product selection, pricing and display, promotion and marketing, and equipment and refrigeration. 

Cohosted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Food Trust, a meeting was held to address the role of supermarkets in providing access to healthy affordable foods in communities and the role they play in reversing childhood obesity in lower - income and multi- ethnic communities.  The three goals of the meeting were to: 1) Connect (explore strategies that would help promote healthier diets for children and their familes) 2) Co - Create (generate and combine ideas for effective marketing strategies that would help consumers make healthier choices while meeting retailers' and manufacturers' business goals) 3) Contine (promote collaboration between food retailers and manufacturers and spread approaches that encourage healthy eating).