From One City to Many: Scaling Best Practices for Healthy Corner Stores Background Details

Background Detail:

In many communities across the country, individuals struggle to access healthy and affordable foods. One particular challenge is accessing fresh fruits and vegetables in communities that rely on small corner stores for food shopping due to a lack of traditional full-service grocery stores. While corner stores may be the only food store available in some communities, they often offer limited healthy foods.

What is Healthy Corners?

Healthy Corners is a pioneering venture that is expanding healthy food access in D.C. neighborhoods.

→DCCK delivers produce to corner stores in DC’s low-income communities, offering fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables to store owners at wholesale prices and in smaller quantities than a conventional distributor.

→Partner stores then sell the produce at below-market prices, making it an affordable and accessible option for consumers.

This venture is made possible through a mix of earned revenue, philanthropic support, and a significant partnership with D.C.’s Health Department.

Healthy Corners has demonstrated that there is a significant demand in low-income communities for fresh, affordable food deliveries to corner stores. Beyond the produce, DCCK also provides stores with marketing support, technical assistance, and nutrition training. DCCK facilitates a Store Owner Community of Practice for stores to learn and share best practices as they work with the program to expand their capacity for healthier products and meet the needs of their community. In addition, DC Central Kitchen hosts weekly events for customers at or near corner stores that include cooking demonstrations and community partners.

Through this project,  DCCK developed its first ever Healthy Corners best practice guide, which helps organizations in communities across the country learn from DCCK’s approach in Washington, D.C. 

What was the research project?

This collaboration examined whether certain components of the DC Central Kitchen’s Healthy Corners model could be replicated in other jurisdictions outside of Washington, D.C. The year-long work enabled a comprehensive assessment of two contrasting food systems: Indianapolis and the Mississippi Delta. 

Indianapolis is an urban area that had existing food policy coalitions, infrastructure, and resources at the start of this project. However, resources and support were fragmented, highlighting the need for stronger coordination.

The Mississippi Delta, a rural, agricultural region, had fewer resources and partnerships at the start of this project. There’s continued potential for a robust system in the Mississippi Delta due to a strong presence of community-based stakeholders. 

Our goal was to support our partners’ to arrive at a community-informed vision of success, grounded in the lived reality of those who know the food system best. This approach reveals root causes and systemic vulnerabilities, not just surface-level symptoms, enabling stakeholders to target interventions where they will have the greatest impact on long-term resilience. It also establishes a community-defined framework for measuring progress toward shared goals, providing clear accountability while maintaining the local buy-in essential for sustained change. 

Project outcomes

Our three most notable developments towards fostering local planning and decision making  were the completion of social network analyses, group model-building workshops, and the Healthy Corners practice manual. The results are summarized below.

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Mississippi Delta

• Established a Food Policy and Action Council to lead regional food system strategy and advocacy.
• Provided technical assistance to corner stores and culinary schools to become certified Healthy Corner Stores.
• Identified opportunities to leverage the development of purple hull pea processing infrastructure, creating new market pathways for local farmers and producers.
• Developed a strategic partnership with the local hospital in Clarksdale to integrate healthy food access into community health initiatives, leveraging healthcare resources to improve nutrition and wellness outcomes.
• Created opportunities for the Delta to acquire and utilize the data desired by many organizations.

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Indianapolis

• Grew support for a Food Hub in Indianapolis. Secured additional funding for a pilot Food Hub as a direct result of the group model building workshop.
• Recognized and fostered momentum for the development of a food Co-Op.
• Began work to strengthen collaboration between the Food Hub and Co-Op and other efforts to align efforts and resources.
• Began the process to include more local farmers as part of the solutions in the collaboration.
• Created greater trust and understanding between various stakeholders in central Indiana on the ingredients for food systems change.

The findings will continue to inform the Partnership for a Healthier America’s Good Food Cities initiative and provide new insights and identify new strategies to improve food access and ultimatelIn many communities across the country, individuals struggle to access healthy and affordable foods. One particular challenge is accessing fresh fruits and vegetables in communities that rely on small corner stores for food shopping due to a lack of traditional full-service grocery stores. While corner stores may be the only food store available in some communities, they often offer limited healthy foods.y drive improved health outcomes in underserved communities across the United States. 

This project was shared during a panel at the June 2025 Good Food For All Summit hosted by Partnership for a Healthier America, in partnership with GFI.