Ann Maloney

Food is a fundamental part of life that intimately touches every person, Suh said. It also is a crucial indicator of the impact that poverty and the resulting inequities can have on personal and environmental health, she added.

In a conversation on “Fixing the Food Supply Chain,” led by Sam Sifton, food editor of The New York Times, Suh and Walter Robb, a former chief executive of Whole Foods Markets, made the argument that it makes moral, social and economic sense to ensure equitable access to fresh food in communities throughout the United States.

“People are voting with their forks, and that is changing the way we think and the opportunities we have for innovation,” said Suh, who works as an advocate for environmental and public health. “You can make conscious choices every single day, and that has collectively changed the world.”

Many people do not have the access and economic viability to select healthful food, making it essential for advocates to work toward a more equitable market, she said.

In New Orleans, there is one grocery store for every 14,000 residents, and half of the city’s population has no grocery store within three miles of where they live, Sifton noted. (A 2012 Tulane University study found that New Orleans lagged behind the national ratio, which was one supermarket for every 8,500 residents.)

That lack of access is made worse by a lack of reliable public transportation, Robb said, adding that both of those factors are prevalent in cities throughout the United States.

“It’s a disparity that is troubling because of its impact on health,” he said.

It makes economic sense for retailers, investors and entrepreneurs to have a vested interest in this issue, said Robb of Stonewall Robb Advisors, an investment and advising firm for food businesses.

“Food is the most robust sector in the economy,” he said. “People have to eat.”

As an example of a successful retail move, he cited Whole Foods’ move into Midtown Detroit in 2013, adding that “Wall Street laughed” at the time.

Retailers cannot just drop into communities, he said. Instead, they should work with local food policy groups to develop relationships so that they can better understand a market’s needs.

“Real work happens through partnerships,” he said.

Another key to success is embracing the role that a new generation of innovators can play in enhancing access and curbing waste, Robb said. He cited two examples: FoodMaven, a company that sells discounted surplus food and imperfect produce to restaurants and commercial kitchens, and Apeel Sciences, a company that produces a naturally derived coating that can extend the shelf life of fresh food.

Something that extends the life of produce can change a retailer’s mind about carrying it, he said. “The reason they don’t want to do it is because it goes bad and they have to throw it out, and that costs money.”

Food waste, access and safety are affected by a wide variety of public policies from the regulation of pesticides and standardization of food labeling to recognition of the role that immigration laws play, Suh said.

For example, she said, regulating pesticides and promoting more natural and sustainable farming practices supports the health of the farmworker, the communities that surround the farms and the retail customers themselves.

“Systemwide approaches are needed to meet the demands and needs of the whole world,” said Suh, who, before joining the NRDC in 2016, was assistant secretary for policy, management and budget at the Interior Department.

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/11/us/making-food-equality-a-goal.html" id="247c9b19-3b42-3c60-a3fe-09b33aa68ece">The New York Times</a>.

NEW ORLEANS — Dollar General’s move to add coolers of fresh food to stores in some cities in the United States is evidence that advocacy for equal access to healthy groceries can bring about real change, according to Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Making Food Equality a Goal

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Ann Maloney

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Making Food Equality a Goal