Dec 8, 2017
In this episode, Dawn Carpenter explores the idea of food deserts and how important grocery stores are to the health of a community. Police advocate, Atif Bostic of Uplift and entrepreneur Jeff Brown of ShopRite, educate listeners about the problems with food deserts in the United States and inspire with real stories of how to solve one of America’s most fundamental public health challenges. Listen to this episode to learn more about the sobering reality of many Americans as well as the successful business strategies develop to combat the problem, straight some of the leading visionaries in this work
Key takeaways:
[1:38] Atif Bostic career briefing.
[3:27] What are food deserts?
[4:22] What are the trends of food deserts?
[6:55] Food deserts in the United States.
[7:35] Goals of the work of Uplift.
[8:25] Financing role in food deserts and why supermarkets don’t go there.
[9:34] What does it mean to live in a food desert?
[11:55] Success in the projects addressing food desert challenge.
[14:50] Jeff Brown career briefing.
[15:22] ShopRite and Brown’s Super Stores.
[16:58] Economics of grocery stores.
[19:12] What makes ShopRite successful in the communities where it is?
[21:26] Operating challenges to overcoming problem depend on dynamics of local community.
[22:32] Employee aspect of the business.
[25:10] What Brown’s Super Stores is most proud of as a contribution to the community.
Mentioned in this episode:
CDFI Fund at US Department of Treasury
ShopRite and Brown’s Super stores
Brown’s Super Stores on Facebook
Brown’s Super Stores on Twitter