October 19, 2016

PITTSBURGH – Live Well Allegheny, Allegheny County’s wellness campaign led by the Board of Health and Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) Director Dr. Karen Hacker, continued its efforts to enhance food access by eliminating food deserts at an event yesterday that celebrated both the Fresh Corners Program and the Green Grocer Program. Both programs were represented at a kick-off event at 5GB’s Fresh Foods Market in McKees Rocks.

“Access to fresh healthy foods is critical for healthy living,” said Dr. Hacker. “We are proud to support innovative efforts like the Green Grocer and Fresh Corners Programs to decrease the food deserts. This collaboration is what Live Well Allegheny is all about, organizations coming together to make it easier for county residents to get what they need to live a healthy lifestyle.”

The Fresh Corners Program was launched by Just Harvest as a healthy corner store initiative to improve access to healthy food in underserved neighborhoods in Allegheny County. The Green Grocer Program, managed by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank (GPCFB), is a mobile farmers market designed to travel into food desert communities to provide the fresh food options that are currently missing from the landscape. Both programs are funded, in part, by a two-year grant received from the Richard King Mellon Foundation awarded to ACHD in June 2016 to continue its Live Well Allegheny efforts to enhance food access.

Yesterday’s event was a health benefit kick-off event at 5GB’s Fresh Foods Market which is part of the Fresh Corners Program, and beginning yesterday, became a site of the Green Grocer mobile farmers market. The mobile food market will stop at 5GB’s Fresh Food Market each Tuesday from 12 -1:00 p.m. Just Harvest, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank (GPCFB), Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program, and Community Kitchen Pittsburgh all participated in yesterday’s event which also provided health and wellness information and cooking demonstrations.

5GB’s Fresh Food Market recently received authorization to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in the store. Farmers Market Nutrition Program benefits are accepted at the Green Grocer.

Live Well Allegheny was launched in January 2014 as a comprehensive, innovative strategy on wellness that embraces a broad concept of living well to include physical health, mental wellness, personal and community safety, prevention and preparedness, and much more.