Opinion: Let’s Replace Banned Flavored Tobacco with Healthy Fare in San Diego’s ‘Food Deserts’

The passage of a flavored tobacco ban within the metropolis of San Diego is sweet information for public well being. It may very well be notably excellent news for San Diegans residing in communities the place independently owned meals markets and liquor shops affiliated with the Neighborhood Market Affiliation are the first supply of groceries.

That’s as a result of the town council’s 7-2 vote to outlaw flavored e-cigarettes and flavored tobacco merchandise presents a well timed alternative for neighborhood markets — positioned in “meals deserts” stretching throughout the town’s city core — to fill empty shops cabinets as soon as stocked with manufacturers like Juul, Blu, Camel, and Marlboro with meals and drinks that promote wholesome, equitable and resilient communities.

Meals deserts are residential communities with restricted entry to wholesome, nutritious meals. These underserved areas are primarily low-income communities of colour the place residents have restricted mobility.

With out transportation and the buying energy to entry groceries at big-box retailers positioned exterior their neighborhoods, residents of meals deserts don’t have any selection however to feed their households the high-calorie and low-nutrient meals and drinks which are readily and conveniently obtainable at their nook market.

Roughly 25% of all census tracts in San Diego County are meals deserts. Within the metropolis of San Diego, most are clustered to the east of Interstate 805, extending to the town limits.

Advocates of the flavored tobacco ban preserve sugary candy flavored tobacco is a harmful gateway to nicotine dependancy amongst youngsters and younger adults. Their arsenal of analysis contains research presenting the vary of preventable persistent illnesses linked to flavored tobacco — together with coronary heart and lung illness, most cancers, and diabetes — and chronicling the tobacco business’s predatory advertising and marketing campaigns concentrating on children, girls and ladies,  individuals who determine as LGBTQ and communities of colour.

The Neighborhood Market Affiliation campaigned in opposition to ending the sale of flavored tobacco. Claiming flavored tobacco merchandise comprise between 1 / 4 and half of its members’ retail gross sales, affiliation leaders warned of the pending financial hardship the ban would convey upon its members, forcing its mom-and-pop markets to put off employees, increase costs on different merchandise and probably shut.

However passage of the flavored tobacco ban units the stage for the affiliation to pivot to a brand new enterprise mannequin. It will possibly encourage its members to inventory contemporary vegetables and fruit, nutritious meals, and wholesome drinks at their nook markets and liquor shops. It will possibly advocate for a brand new relationship with suppliers of merchandise that set off the onset of life-sapping persistent
illness.

Thankfully, the affiliation needn’t look far for steerage to navigate this very important transition. The San Diego County’s Dwell Properly Neighborhood Market Program is primed to assist the commerce group’s transformation.

Grounded in greatest practices to assist market house owners develop enterprise fashions that appeal to new consumers and improve their backside line, this system is a catalyst for neighborhood markets desirous about promoting contemporary, wholesome, and reasonably priced meals and drinks.

Particularly, this system collaborates with house owners and operators to enhance inside and exterior retailer designs and increase promotion and availability of those merchandise. This dynamic empowers their prospects to hitch them in constructing wholesome, stronger communities.

In partnership with the UCSD Middle for Neighborhood Well being, the group market program prioritizes collaborations with small, independently owned meals markets serving low-income communities, together with Metropolis Heights and Southeastern San Diego. This system presents a Dwell Properly San Diego countywide platform that publicly acknowledges group markets for his or her participation and dedication to public well being.

This system is free, a successful proposition for the small companies it serves.

The passage of the flavored tobacco ban presents the Neighborhood Market Affiliation a brand new alternative. The group market program can present the group and its members with the sources and experience to assist them transition away from a enterprise mannequin depending on unhealthy merchandise.

Viewing the flavored tobacco ban as an open door, not a useless finish, it’s honest to ask: Why wouldn’t neighborhood market house owners select to domesticate buyer loyalty by stocking their cabinets with domestically sourced produce and reasonably priced shopper manufacturers that promote wholesome, thriving communities?

Dr. Rodney Hood is managing associate of the Care View Medical Group and president of the Multicultural IPA, a gaggle of unbiased physicians delivering culturally delicate healthcare. Dr. James Dunford served as San Diego’s first director of emergency medical providers and is medical director of the McAlister Institute, which offers low-cost substance abuse remedy, drug intervention, and restoration assist.