New York City has introduced a voluntary program for food retailers, Shop Healthy NYC, which will have participating grocers in the city's unhealthiest borough – Bronx – stocking and displaying healthful food and produce at eye-level on shelves normally housing chips and sodas, according to The Los Angeles Times in Los Angeles, Calif. For the full story, click here.
Editor’s Insight: Give New York City Mayor Bloomberg credit for one thing: he is certainly serious about doing something about rising obesity. Whether or not we agree with everything he is doing, he offers a role model for taking initiative.
The Shop Healthy NYC program is voluntary. It will be interesting to see how many retailers embrace the program.
A more critical question is how the program affects sales. If it results in lower sales, retailers will not stick with it. If it sustains or increases sales, the merchandising strategy will become a key tool in getting people to buy more “healthy” food. 07-20-12 By Elliot Maras
