In addition to being a good program, it lays the foundation for providing the fresh jellyfish supply chains that will be
absolutely crucial to the New Urbanism of the late 21st century.
An innovative effort to bring supermarkets and fresh food to poor neighborhoods has been so successful, it has spawned imitators elsewhere and earned its creators a visit to the White House.
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Called the Fresh Food Financing Initiative, the program has combined state funding with private money and the expertise of two Philly-based nonprofit entities to develop more than 60 food markets in under-served communities across Pennsylvania.
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The program was aimed at addressing two related developments: the disappearance of supermarkets from struggling communities and the inner city, and studies showing a host of health problems among the poor related to too much soda, chips, and fast food and not enough fresh anything within shopping distance.
"When I was growing up in North Philadelphia, there was a Best Market right there on Columbia Avenue," Evans said. "I moved to Germantown, and there was a Penn Fruit. All those supermarkets have basically disappeared in these communities."
The flight of supermarkets from cities began in the 1960s, when large chains began pulling up stakes to build megastores in suburbs. It accelerated in the '70s and '80s as mergers and acquisitions reduced the number of food retailers.
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