skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina s congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Myorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

VA Voters Favor State Fund to Bring Grocers to Underserved

play audio
Play

Thursday, August 25, 2016   

RICHMOND, Va. – A new poll finds Virginia voters strongly support a state fund to help bring grocery stores to underserved communities.

Allie Atkeson, campaign manager of the Voices for Healthy Kids program with the American Heart Association, says the program found voters are especially concerned about the half million Virginia children who live in low-income communities with limited supermarket access.

She says more than 4 out of 5 of the voters support the creation of the Virginia Grocery Investment Fund.

"Eighty-two percent of voters support a state program to make healthy foods available to more of Virginia's children by giving low-interest loans and grants to business to open grocery stores in Virginia," she states.

More than 1.5 million Virginians live in low-income areas without easy access to a supermarket. According to the American Heart Association, they suffer higher rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

The Virginia Grocery Investment Fund had some support during the last General Assembly. A broad coalition of backers hope to turn that into solid funding during the next session.

Atkeson says a neighborhood grocery store wouldn't cure all dietary problems by itself. But she says a similar grocery investment fund in Pennsylvania already has resulted in scores of new stores opening, and that seems to have contributed to real improvements in health.

"People who live in communities without a grocery store suffer from disproportionately high rates of diet-related disease,” she points out. “Philadelphia actually found that the rate of childhood obesity declined by 6.6 percent after the implementation of the program."

Grocery stores in small towns and poor city neighborhoods often survive on extremely thin profit margins.

Atkeson says loans for new refrigeration or an energy upgrade can mean life or death for one of those stores. And she says it also can mean new jobs in those places.

"Over the years, grocery stores have left communities due to factors unrelated to customer demand,” she explains. “The fund is not intended to artificially prop up a grocery store, and the creation of grocery stores in these communities can help with a greater community revitalization effort."




get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021