Healthy Checkout Initiative Launches In Savannah

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Dec. 10, 2021 - PRLog -- Red and White becomes first to join the effort

(SAVANNAH, Ga.) Savannahians who live in low-income neighborhoods often have a poor quality diet and the health problems associated with it. Now, Healthy Savannah (http://healthysavannah.org), the City of Savannah (https://www.savannahga.gov/) and local grocery stores are using grant funds to tackle that problem where it starts for many families – at the grocery store checkout aisle. Participating grocery stores will join the Healthy Checkout (https://healthysavannah.org/healthy-checkout/) initiative by making sure fresh produce and other healthy choices are attractively displayed near the checkout lines.

The first grocers to join the effort are the Savannah area Red and White (https://jonesredandwhite.com/) stores. The stores have already moved produce displays near checkouts and will celebrate their participation in the project by giving away 1000 free reusable fabric shopping bags, while supplies last, to customers who buy fresh produce during December. The event kick-off is scheduled for noon on Saturday, December 11, at the Habersham Village Red and White (https://jonesredandwhite.com/locations).

Funding for the initiative comes from the YMCA of Coastal Georgia (https://ymcaofcoastalga.org/) and Healthy Savannah through funding from the Centers for Disease Control's Racial & Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant (https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/state-local-programs/reach/index.htm). Addressing the Healthy Checkout Initiative specifically is an additional grant from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (https://www.cspinet.org/).

This particular initiative tackles a true hot spot of impulse buying for grocery shoppers. As they wait to check out, shoppers typically are confronted with an array of candy and snacks displayed to tempt their way into shopping carts.

Kreissler and her team are also reaching out to other grocery and corner stores across the Savannah area to encourage the widespread adoption of healthy checkout displays to include fresh fruits and vegetables. For more information, visit https://healthysavannah.org/healthy-checkout/

Why does this matter? Statistics compiled by Healthy Savannah reveal alarming facts about the impact of grocery buying. Savannahians living in low-income neighborhoods who also have a poor quality diet are 25% more susceptible to COVID-19 infection, those statistics show.

Healthy Savannah has found that 17.6% of all residents in Chatham County are food insecure and 21.8% of children in Chatham County are food insecure. On top of that, 60% of children 2-5 years of age consume more than the recommended amount of sugar and nearly three-quarters of all food advertisements use familiar characters to target children.

In a 2020 Healthy Savannah community survey, most respondents said they currently do their shopping and purchase healthy food at grocery stores (86%) and convenience stores (45%). About half (49%) of respondents ate fresh vegetables every day and fresh fruit every day (45%). More than two-thirds of participants said finding healthy food at neighborhood stores was important to them.