From Left to Right: San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, Aparna Bhat a liason from Google, Carmina Rivera owner of Emit Mini-Mart, Frederick Ferrer CEO of The Health Trust, and Cindy Chavez District 2 Santa Clara County Supervisor, outside Emit Mini-mart at the launch of the Good. To Go. campaign September 17, 2014.
In Silicon Valley’s fast paced work-life frenzy, convenience often trumps giving our body the fuel it truly deserves. Although Silicon Valley is progressive when it comes to health and nutrition, in many neighborhoods the food options are primarily corner stores stocked with processed foods and fast food restaurants.
That’s why The Health Trust’s Healthy Eating Initiative aims to change San Jose’s local foodscape to ensure all residents have convenient access to affordable, quality, delicious and nutritious food in their neighborhoods. Through key partnerships and maximizing community resources the Healthy Eating Initiative has committed funding to launch Healthy Cornerstores, Fresh Carts and Salad Bars in schools.
Traditionally, neighborhood cornerstones sell mostly junk food, sugary drinks and liquor, a status quo that The Health Trust and our partners The City of San Jose, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Working Partnerships, and The Food Trust, are working to change. Our particpating Healthy Cornerstores are bringing healthy food, nutritious snacks and fresh fruits and vegetables closer to home, allowing residents to pick up their weekly groceries or a quick healthy treat at a store within walking distance.
The Healthy Eating Initiative is also working to bring local neighborhoods with fresh foods through our Fresh Carts Mobile Produce Vending Program. Mobile vendors rotate locations throughout San Jose bringing fresh fruits and veggies to community sites, events and schools in low income neighborhoods. With the help of our partners Sacred Heart Community Services, AnewAmerica, Rocketship Schools, and the City of San Jose, we are able to train local residents as vendors with the skills to make a successful business out of bringing fresh foods into the heart of our local neighborhoods. The Healthy Eating Initiative will soon begin expanding the programs by training a group of 25 new Fresh Cart vendors and recruiting 20 new corner stores this year.
The Good. To Go. mobile app availiable for iPhone and Android can locate the nearest Good. To Go. cornerstore, fresh cart, or farmers’ market.
Increasing access is just part of the solution. The Health Trust is also reframing how our communities think about fresh foods such as fruits and veggies. Whom better to start with than our children? The Health Trust in partnership with Silicon Valley Leadership Group Foundation has awarded a grant to support the Let’s Move Salad Bars to California Schools Campaign, which is being used to install and support 30 salad bars in high-need Santa Clara County schools. By exposing children to different healthier food alternatives, the campaign hopes to start children out right with healthy eating habits.
The Health Trust is also reframing how we think about food through the Good. To Go. marketing campaign, which is being used to highlight the emergence of fresh foods at participating local cornerstores and Fresh Carts, as “Fun. Fast. Fresh.”
The simple, catchy phrase, Good. To Go., was researched and designed to communicate what it means to have fresh foods so accessible. “Good” means not just healthy, but delicious, fresh and tasty. “To Go.” emphasizes it’s convenience and accessibility especially for on-the-go residents. The phrase matched with a sleek design stands out not just to promote the newly available fresh foods in our neighborhoods, but was designed to also start a conversation around food and the local foodscape.
Fresh Carts Vendor, Elisabeth Cruz, had a special customer – San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo stops by her fresh cart outside the AACI building.
If the colorful Good. To Go. logo isn’t easy enough to spot, there is also another way to find the closest Healthy Cornerstore and Fresh Cart. A new Mobile App, powered by Google maps, is available for iPhone and Android devices and provides users with the closest Good. To Go. cornerstore or Fresh Cart location.
The Healthy Eating Initiative is committed to continuing programs that promote the availability of fresh and healthy food in underserved neighborhoods. Now that these programs are already at work, the next step for The Health Trust is to ensure their sustainability by creating a locally grown food distribution system in San Jose. With a grant from Google, and its ability to partner with key organizations, The Health Trust knows that it can make fresh and healthy foods more available in our communities and change the way we think about eating. It can be “Fun. Fast. Fresh.”
To find out more information about Good. To Go or to learn more learn more about becoming a partner please visit the Good. To Go. webpage.
To download the Good. To Go. Locator Ap, click here for iPhone or click here for Android.
For any additional information please contact Misha Taherbhai by email mishat@healthtrust.org or by phone at 408.513.8716.