In communities that lack supermarkets, families depend on corner stores for food purchases. The choices at these stores are often limited to packaged food and very little, if any, fresh produce. Corner stores are also frequent destinations for children, many of whom stop daily on the way to and from school for snacks. A study published in Pediatrics found that the average Philadelphia student purchases more than 350 calories on each visit to the corner store – and 29 percent of them shop at corner stores twice a day, five days a week, consuming almost a pound worth of additional calories each week.

The Food Trust’s the Healthy Corner Store Initiative has grown steadily and substantially, working to increase the availability and awareness of healthy foods in corner stores in Philadelphia through a multifaceted approach including:
     • Increasing store capacity to sell and market healthy items in order to improve healthy options in communities
     • Training and offering technical assistance to store owners to provide the skills to make healthy changes profitable
     • Marketing healthy messages to youth and adults to encourage healthy eating choices
     • Offering in-store community nutrition education lessons
     • Educating youth in schools near targeted corner stores to reinforce healthy messages and provide nutrition education through the Snackin’ Fresh program
     • Linking corner store owners to community partners, local farmers and fresh food suppliers to create and sustain healthy corner stores.

In partnership with the Philadelphia Department of Health's Get Healthy Philly initiative, The Food Trust expanded the Philadelphia Healthy Corner Store Network to more than 600 corner stores. The Food Trust also has expanded the Healthy Corner Store Initiative to Camden, New Jersey, and Norristown, Pennsylvania, and has consulted with communities across the country to provide technical assistance and training to support similar healthy corner store programs.