The First Lady of the US, Michelle Obama, known worldwide for her obsessive devotion to a healthy way of life, has done it again. She has managed to convince the executives of supermarket chains like Wal-Mart, Walgreens, SuperValu, etc, to join her in pledging opening or expanding their reach to communities that do not have adequate access to nutritious food. Such communities or locations are called “food deserts” and the supermarket executives have pledged to open as many as 1,500 stores among such communities. The First Lady announced this pledge on July 20^th, 2011.

The US Department of Agriculture designated food deserts are low-income areas, where more than 500 people or 33% of the population resides more than a mile away from an affordable food store.

The pledges were made and secured under the “Partnership for a Healthier America”, will help supermarket stores to cover 9.5 million Americans who live in such food desserts. As a result of absence of easy access to nutritious foods, people living in such communities were forced to reach out to fast food options. The fact is that about 23 million Americans are currently part of such communities, which makes Michelle Obama’s efforts even more significant.

While announcing the pledges, the First Lady said, “The commitments that you all are making today have the potential to be a game changer. When these stores succeed, they can serve as anchors in our communities.”

The Pledges 

Walgreens

The Illinois-based retailer has pledged to reach 4.8 million people with close to 1,000 stores, in which it would sell fruit, vegetables and grocery items, which is not a part of its usual inventory.

Wal-Mart

The supermarket chain is going to either open or expand about 300 stores in the next five years, wherein an estimated 40,000 people will find employment.

SuperValu

The regional grocery chain, which owns brands like Jewel-Osco and ACME, will put out 250 new stores by the name of “Save-A-Lot” by 2016.

Mrs. Obama has emphasized upon the need for the private sector and the Government to work together to remove these food deserts from the country’s landscape. Her encouraging words would certainly be inspirational for other supermarket chains to pitch in with her. Mrs. Obama said, “With your commitments today, you all are showing us what’s possible. This isn’t some mysterious issue that we can’t address. We know the answer. It is right here.”

We sincerely hope that more hands would join these efforts so that such food deserts are soon eliminated from the face of America.

Image Credit: whudat.com, upload.wikimedia.org