Rolling Store' provides model for overcoming barriers to healthy foods and better health outcomes

Peer-Reviewed Publication

FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SOCIETIES FOR EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY

The Rolling Store, a unique approach to overcoming economic and transportation barriers in order to
provide poor women in the Lower Mississippi Delta access to healthy foods, not only prevented
continuing weight gain - the study's objective - but resulted in weight loss and improved self esteem.

Dr. Betty Kennedy, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, described the Rolling Store project, and its
potential as a model for poor communities, on June 14 at the annual meeting of the American Society
for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB)/8th International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology Conference (IUBMB) in Boston.

The rural Mississippi River Delta region has one of the nation's highest rates of households with incomes
below the federal poverty line. Residents also rank high nationally in obesity and in increased mortality
from diseases known to be associated with poor nutrition, including cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular
disease. Barriers to better nutrition in the Lower Mississippi Delta may include money; on a cost per
calorie basis, fruits and vegetables rank among the most expensive foods, rivaling shrimp, lobster, and
caviar.

They may include awareness, and they almost certainly include a limited transportation infrastructure in
this rural area where the system of roadways is poor and only one bridge crosses the 215-mile stretch
where the Mississippi River bisects the Delta. Unlike higher income families with better transportation, a
substantial proportion of the poor in this area relies heavily on convenience stores for food purchases.

Researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the
Agricultural Research Service, USDA, in Little Rock, Arkansas, created a six month pilot project to
examine the impact of the availability of better food choices. All of the 40 rural, low-income, African-
American women participating in the study were given information on healthy eating and exercise
weekly, plus incentives, by a peer health educator recruited from the community and trained at the
Pennington Biomedical Research Center. Half the women were allowed to shop, cost free, at the rolling
store. This store was actually a 16-foot pick-up truck enclosed with a camper shell parked outside a local
Baton Rouge community center once a week for four hours, stocked with healthy food choices such as
fruits and vegetables.
The difference was significant. The women who received information only continued to gain weight (an
average of 2.4 pounds over the six month period), while the women who received information and had
access to healthy foods once a week lost an average of 4.2 pounds during the same period. These
women also demonstrated improved self esteem.

The peer health educator and store operator reported that many residents who noticed the van parked
outside the community center expressed the desire to also be allowed to shop for vegetables. Dr.
Kennedy says this enthusiasm, together with the study findings, show that the Rolling Store approach to
the prevention of weight gain is a realistic, inexpensive means to overcome both economic and
geographic barriers to healthy diets in poor, rural people and increase the likelihood of healthier lives.
She believes the Rolling Store offers a model through which members of a church or some other
community organization could pool resources and deliver participants up to 100 servings of fruits and
vegetables for an average cost of $10.

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In addition to Dr. Kennedy, other members of the research team are Donna Ryan, Catherine
Champagne, David Harsha, Roert Newton, Jr., Julia Volaufova, all of the Pennington Biomedical Research
Center, and Margaret Bogle of the USDA.

With more than 11,900 members, the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB)
is a nonprofit scientific and education organization dedicated to promoting understanding of the
molecular nature of life processes.

Retail is unique. Perhaps more so than any other industry, retail is ubiquitous, complex and ripe for
disruption.

These characteristics create a differentiated set of challenges for retailers, but they also create
enormous opportunities.

In fact, retailers now have more opportunities than ever to engage consumers and grow their customer
base. However, there’s little room for error in doing so thanks to fierce competition within the industry
and ever-heightening consumer expectations.
As a result, taking advantage of these opportunities to grow the business and become a true market
leader requires a high level of expertise and a deep focus on everything that makes retail so unique.

What Makes Retail So Unique?

Five factors, in particular, make retail a highly unique industry:

Highly competitive, with no path for winner-take-all: Retail most certainly has market leaders, but the
diversity of retailers and consumer preferences protect against it becoming a winner-take-all industry.
This makes it highly competitive and forces leaders to continuously fight to maintain their positions in
the market.

Leader in innovation: Retail has always been at the forefront of innovation, which continues to drive
competition. As retailers aim to meet and exceed evolving consumer expectations, this innovation can
extend to anything from experiences and purchase processes to supply chains and business models to
omnichannel engagement.

Disproportionate impact of marketing and advertising: Retail purchases are highly emotional, especially
compared to purchases like choosing an airline or a bank. Often, consumers choose products or brands
due to an emotional connection, and this means marketing and advertising carry a disproportionate
impact on success in retail. It also means that these areas of the business must be profit centers, not
cost centers.

Differentiated sub-verticals: Retail consists of several highly differentiated sub-verticals. Although all
retailers do have similar needs and processes that are unique to the industry as a whole, important
nuances separate apparel retailers from home goods retailers, luxury retailers from non-luxury retailers
and so on. Understanding these nuances necessitates deep, industry-specific expertise when developing
strategies to engage consumers and grow loyalty.

Bellwether of economic health: Retail is often used as an early indicator of economic health, since sales
reports are a strong sign of consumer spending power and the retail industry is the largest private-sector
employer in the US economy. However, accurately measuring retail success and using that data to
understand economic health requires a long term view due to the seasonal nature of retail.

Why Does Retail Require Deep Expertise?

All of the factors that make retail

In attaining sustainable urban development, taking local initiatives is imperative. The urgency is on the
highest level now as cities are currently faced with global challenge that threatens the lives of local
people. In the Philippines, several national-level measures have been implemented to address the
COVID-19 pandemic. Among these are the prohibition of mass gatherings and suspension of mass public
transportation. Only a limited number of private establishments that provide and manufacture food and
medicine, banks, power, energy, water, and telecommunications supplies and facilities remain open.
Responding to local needs and ensuring local viability, local governments in the country have come up
with ideas to bring basic goods closer to the people.

IRIGA: “Vegetable on Wheels”

Iriga City launched its Vegetable on Wheels programme with the objective to support both the
households and the farmers. The rolling store is meant to visit all 36 villages or barangays, the smallest
local government unit in the Philippines. The local government bought the vegetables directly from local
farmers and sold them to barangays at lower prices. In addition to vegetables, rice, eggs, dried fish, and
fruits were also sold.

MAKATI: “Makati Mart”

The Makati Mart programme began its operations in Makati City on 30 March 2020. With this initiative
that provides another source of basic goods, people will not crowd the supermarkets or have to leave
their homes. People are encouraged to bring their own eco bags and observe social distancing.

Photo Source: [Link]

BAGUIO: “Rolling Market Caravan”

Baguio City announced a pilot run of its Rolling Market Caravan which started on 03 April 2020. Four
covered courts in the city were identified as venues for the inaugural run and the caravan is expected to
later serve all 20 districts. The project is spearheaded by the city government in partnership with the
Department of Agriculture, Department of Trade and Industry, and local retailers.

Photo Source: [Link]

CATBALOGAN: “Goods-on-Wheels”

Catbalogan City’s Merka-GOW or Goods-on-Wheels started selling fish products, vegetables, chicken
and cold cuts, fruits, and other products. The initiative is managed by the Catbalogan City Economic
Enterprise and Public Utility Office in partnership with several market vendors. The city government also
initiated the Catbalogan E-Market where residents may order groceries, fruits and vegetables, poultry
products, and medicine. Orders can be made by sending a message to the Catbalogan E-Market
Facebook page or to the identified mobile numbers and goods are delivered straight to their homes.

Cities are delivering creative solutions to the people in this time of public health crisis. In addition to
their local versions of the rolling store, other initiatives also emerged. Baguio City started distributing
vegetable seeds through the barangays as a long-term solution under the Survival Garden project. It is
meant to strengthen container gardening, and rooftop and vertical gardening with short-season crops
that can be harvested in two months. Makati City introduced the Otso Otso Campaign to encourage
cleaning habit in the household twice a day – at 8:00am and 8:00pm. The battle against COVID-19
continues but it can be overcome when cities and its people work together.