Food Deserts & WIC Vouchers: Half A Loaf For the New Fresh & Easy Store Opening Tomorrow in South Los Angeles

[Photo Credit: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market]

Commentary & Analysis

Beginning tomorrow, when Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market opens its new food and grocery store at 1025 East Adams Boulevard (pictured above), residents of the low-income Central & Adams neighborhood in South Los Angeles, which is underserved by full-service grocery markets, will have an additional place to shop for fresh foods, groceries and related products.

The Central & Adams neighborhood, like most of South Los Angeles, is a food desert, a generally urban area (but can be rural too) in which few supermarkets or grocery stores offering a decent selection of fresh food and grocery products exist.

Residents of food desert neighborhoods have a limited choice of nearby food shopping venues. Instead, they must either travel a considerable distance to the closest supermarket or shop at neighborhood convenience stores or mini-marts, both of which offer a limited selection of foods (particularly nutritious ones), and have prices considerably higher than those at supermarkets and other format stores offering food and groceries, like Walmart, Costco and Target, for example.

Since most often food desert neighborhood residents are lower income folks, this serves as a "double-whammy" for them economically: shopping at the convenience stores and mini-marts costs at least 30% more than at supermarkets. Additionally, many residents of food desert neighborhoods don't own cars. This means they have to take public transportation to the nearest supermarket, which often means spending money they don't have.

And of course the lack of fresh and nutritious foods available nearby often leads to health problems such as obesity and diabetes, to name just two.

No WIC Vouchers at the new South L.A. Fresh & Easy

Unfortunately, not all of the residents of the Central & Adams neighborhood in South Los Angeles will be able to take advantage of the new Fresh & Easy market when it opens tomorrow.

That's because Tesco's Fresh & Easy doesn't accept WIC Vouchers, which are distributed by California's Women, Infants and Childrens Program to poor woman, infants and children., at any of its 141 stores.

WIC is a federally funded health and nutrition program for women which, among other things, helps families by providing checks for buying healthy supplemental foods from WIC-authorized vendors.

WIC is a lifeline for many women and their children

WIC is funded by federal dollars, administrated by states, and implemented by counties, as is the

case in Los Angeles County, where the new South Los Angeles Fresh & Easy store is located. For most of these families, which are often headed by a single woman, were it not for the WIC Vouchers, the infants and children would likely go without much needed essential and nutritious foods like infant formula, whole milk, whole grains, and fresh fruits and vegetables.

Unlike food stamps, which is another government food assistance program, the WIC Vouchers stipulate the kinds of foods families can purchase at grocery stores using the checks. [Here's a list of the qualifying foods under the WIC program.]

The vouchers look similar to a check, and list the types of foods on them users can purchase. At the grocery store the clerk fills in the voucher blanks and processes it just like stores do with paper checks.

In California, 82 local WIC agencies serve over 1.4 million women, infants and children each month under the nutritional food assistance program.

Additionally, in the last two years of the recession, requests for WIC vouchers have soared, according to California WIC, including requests from women who in the past have never received, or even thought about receiving, food assistance of any kind from a governmental agency.

According to California and Los Angeles County WIC, South Los Angeles has one of the highest percentages of women, infants and children receiving WIC Vouchers in the state. This shouldn't be a surprise because Central Los Angeles also has one of the highest poverty rates in California.

But because Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market does not accept WIC Vouchers as a matter of corporate policy, the many women, infants and children in the neighborhood who rely on WIC to survive and have at least a minimal amount of nutritious food, won't be able to use the vouchers at the 1025 East Adams Boulevard Fresh & Easy fresh food and grocery store that opens tomorrow.

Nearby competitor Superior accepts WIC Vouchers

There is some good news for these woman, infants and children though. A local chain, Superior Grocers, opened a supermarket last year in South Los Angeles, just a couple blocks from the new Fresh & Easy store - and Superior accepts WIC Vouchers at its South Los Angeles store, along with at all of its 33 supermarkets in Southern California.

When Superior opened its South Los Angeles store last year it made a major impact on better serving the food store-underserved residents of Central Los Angeles.

The new Fresh & Easy store will add to that better service for residents - accept unfortunately for the women, infants and children who rely on WIC program assistance in order to obtain nutritious foods.

And in many cases were it not for the WIC Vouchers, many of these women, infants and children would experience regular hunger. Many still do even with the vouchers, but the program provides a lifeline for them.

Time for Fresh & Easy to accept WIC Vouchers

Fresh & Easy Buzz has called on Tesco's Fresh & Easy to accept WIC Vouchers in the past - both because it's the right thing to do from a corporate responsibility stance and as a "neighborhood grocer," which Fresh & Easy defines itself as - but also because it makes just plain good business sense (self interest) for any grocer to do so, especially one that needs sales like Fresh & Easy does. These are basically the reasons pretty much 100% of Fresh & Easy's competitors in California, Nevada and Arizona accept WIC Vouchers.

Additionally, there's a historical social pact or contract between the state of California and its grocers in which accepting the WIC Vouchers is a part. Fresh & Easy is really out of sink in the industry but not understanding this social pact and changing its policy to accept the WIC.

Further, from the smart business perspective, WIC brings considerable added sales to grocers, particularly in lower income areas like Central Los Angeles which have many voucher users.

For example, many of the items that can be purchased using the vouchers are "high ring" items like infant formula, whole milk and whole grain cereals.

WIC recently added more fresh produce items to the program as well. Last time we checked, Tesco's Fresh & Easy could use all the added fresh produce sales it can get. There is still considerable shrink (throwing away) in the grocer's fresh produce category, along with regular 50% markdowns of produce and other fresh foods items as they near the end of their code dates.

WIC is one of the few programs that has widespread bipartisan support in Congress. Liberal Democrats from urban districts like the program for obvious reasons. However, many farm state conservative Republicans also support WIC, for among other reasons due to the fact that it brings considerable revenue to the farmers and food processors in their states.

Most moderates in both parties also support WIC. For example, in the last three Republican Presidential Administrations - Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 - there was no serious discussion about getting rid of WIC.

When Republicans held a majority in Congress for years they made no efforts to eliminate WIC either.

Last year Congress passed legislation, which the President signed, that added $1.2 billion in funding to WIC, a 22% increase in its budget, as we wrote about in this March 2009 piece: Federal Government Spending Bill Increases WIC Voucher Program Dollars by $1.2 Billion; 21 Percent Increase.

Food deserts, food access and WIC Vouchers

Food deserts have been much in the news over the last week because of First Lady Michelle Obama's new "Lets Move" childhood obesity and nutrition initiative.

A major element of the "Lets Move" program is called "Accessing Healthy & Affordable Food." Here's what the First lady says about this part of her initiative (in italics):

"More than 23 million Americans, including 6.5 million children, live in low-income urban and rural neighborhoods that are more than a mile from a supermarket.

These communities, where access to affordable, quality, and nutritious foods is limited, are known as food deserts.

By using the new (USDA) interactive Food Environment Atlas, users can see the location of food deserts across the country and other indicators of how successful communities are in accessing healthy food.

Lack of access to proper nutrition is one reason why many children are not eating the recommended levels of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

Food insecurity and hunger among our children is even more widespread. A recent USDA report showed that in 2008, an estimated 49.1 million people, including 16.7 million children, lived in households that experienced hunger multiple times throughout the year. (Household Food Security in the United States, 2008.)

Too often, these same school age children are not eating the recommended level of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low fat dairy products. (source) So, Let’s Move to ensure that all families have access to healthy, affordable food in their communities.

As part of the President’s proposed FY 2011 budget, the Administration announced a new program – the Healthy Food Financing Initiative -- a partnership between the U.S. Departments of Treasury, Agriculture and Health and Human Services which will invest $400 million a year to provide innovative financing to bring grocery stores to underserved areas and help places such as convenience stores and bodegas carry healthier food options.

Grants will also help bring farmers markets and fresh foods into underserved communities, boosting both family health and local economies. Through these initiatives and private sector engagement, the Administration will work to eliminate food deserts across the country within seven years.

This Spring, LetsMove.gov will unveil specialized tool kits and strategies to help increase access to healthy, affordable food in communities across the country."

It's rather clear (read paragraphs three and four) that the federally-funded WIC Program plays a key part in the First Lady's "Lets Move" initiative - and it does.

After all, if you build a supermarket in a food desert neighborhood, but those living in the neighborhood who are in most need of affordable, nutritious food - mothers, children and infants receiving WIC Vouchers - can't use them at your store, are you really part of the solution for all residents?

Suggestion for Fresh & Easy: 'Lets Move' - on accepting WIC

Tesco's Fresh & Easy wants to get credit for opening stores in these underserved, food desert neighborhoods. For example, on February 19 the grocer tweeted on its Twitter.com feed being mentioned in this National Public Radio news report about the First Lady's initiative and the topic of food deserts.

As we've reported before, Fresh & Easy has opened about three -to- four of its current 141 stores in neighborhoods that can be classified as food deserts.

We give Tesco's Fresh & Easy credit for opening those three or four stores in food desert neighborhoods, as we have done in past pieces in the Blog.

But any credit the grocer takes or is given must be only "half a loaf."

The other half of the loaf comes when Tesco's Fresh & Easy changes its policy and, like nearly 100% of its competitors, accepts WIC Vouchers from those women, children and infants that today can't use them in any of the grocer's stores, including the new South Los Angeles Fresh & Easy market that opens tomorrow at 1025 East Adams Boulevard.

To quote the wife of the current American President: "Lets Move."

Related posts in Fresh & Easy Buzz:

March 20, 2009: Federal Government Spending Bill Increases WIC Voucher Program Dollars by $1.2 Billion; 21 Percent Increase

March 7, 2009: Analysis & Commentary: The Seven Retail Operations Changes Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Needs to Make to Help it Get On the Success Track

December 29, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy, 'Food Deserts' and WIC Vouchers; A 'Year-End' Analysis & Commentary

September 7, 2008: Analysis & Commentary: Should Tesco's Fresh & Easy Put An Asterisk Next to its Motto? Yes; Unless it Corrects Four Operational Omissions.

June 3, 2008: Fresh & Easy Buzz Redux: Barack Obama to Tesco's Fresh & Easy in Our February 13 Piece: 'Build More Stores in Underserved Neighborhoods'

May 12, 2008: Food Deserts: Coalition to Create 'Blue Ribbon' Commission, Draft Report to Encourage Grocers to Open Stores in Underserved Los Angeles Neighborhoods

February 13, 2008: Leading Democratic Candidate for President Barack Obama Joins Group in Asking Tesco's Fresh & Easy to Put More Stores in Underserved Neighborhoods

September 23, 2008: Food Retailing, Society & Economics: 'Food Deserts' and Public Health

August 11, 2008: Arizona Region Market Report: Which Food Retailer Will Seize the Opportunity Offered by the Lack of a Grocery Store in Downtown Tempe, Arizona?

July 29, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy and San Francisco's Tenderloin Redux: Upcoming Developments Offer First Mover Opportunity For Fresh & Easy or Competitors

July 15, 2008: Fresh Food to Bloom in An Inner-City Food Desert: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Breaks Ground For New Store in Underserved South Los Angeles Neighborhood

July 2, 2008: Tesco's to Open A Fresh & Easy Grocery Market in Low Income, Underserved South Central Los Angeles Neighborhood

July 11, 2008: 'Food Desert' Neighborhoods and Southern California: More on the Fresh & Easy Store Planned For South Central Los Angeles

July 6, 2008: Former NBA Great Earvin 'Magic' Johnson is Working His Business Magic in Urban, Inner City Neighborhoods; We Offer An Idea For Tesco's Fresh & Easy

May 28, 2008: Las Vegas Market Report: A 'Food Desert' Neighborhood to Get A New Grocery Store; But it's Not A Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

May 14, 2008: New Foods At Fresh & Easy: Los Angeles' 'Homeboy Bakery' and Tesco's Fresh & Easy Could Be A Match 'Made in Heaven'

June 1, 2008: Upcoming New Markets Special Report: From Food Desert to Urban Oasis? Tuesday Election Could Change San Francisco's Bayview-Hunters Point Forever

April 30, 2008: (Grocery) Storeless in Seattle: Food Deserts in Urban and Inner-City Seattle, Washington; Might be a 911 Call to Tesco's Fresh & Easy?

April 27, 2008: New Study Points to Increasing Urban 'Food Deserts' In North America: Locating Stores in 'Food Deserts' A Part of Fresh & Easy's Strategy

April 29, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy an Issue in Sacramento, California Mayor's Race A Year Before its First Store in the Capital City Even Opens

April 13, 2008: San Francisco: Cool Bay Breezes, A City Full of History, Cable Cars--And A 'Fresh & Easy' State of Mind

March 7, 2008: Former NBA All-Star and Sacramento Native Kevin Johnson is the Driving Force Behind a Fresh & Easy Market in Sacramento's Oak Park Neighborhood

February 19, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Serving as an Economic Stimulus Package of Sorts for California's Troubled Commercial Retail Real Estate Industry

February 10, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Opens Latest New Store in 'Food Desert' City of Compton, California

Tesco's Fresh & Easy, 'Food Deserts' and WIC Vouchers; A 'Year-End' Analysis & Commentary

Fresh & Easy Buzz has written often this year about the concept of "food deserts," which are primarily urban, inner-city neighborhoods underserved by grocery stores that offer a good selection of fresh foods and groceries at affordable prices, but also include underserved rural communities as well.

Much of the emphasis in our coverage, writing and analysis regarding the "food desert" issue is do to the fact Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has said since it set up shop over two years ago in Southern California that one of its key strategies with the small-format, combination grocery and fresh foods convenience-oriented chain was to locate stores in inner city "food desert" neighborhoods historically underserved by supermarkets.

The "food desert" issue also is a big one in the United States, which also is why we've written about it often this year in Fresh & Easy Buzz. Cities throughout the U.S. are searching for retailers to open and operate food and grocery stores that offer decent selections of groceries and fresh foods at affordable prices in their respective downtown districts and lower income inner city neighborhoods.

Additionally, community and neighborhood groups in many of these same cities have launched programs, often with federal and state government assistance, that attempt to create incentives to lure grocers downtown and into the inner city neighborhoods, where residents often have to drive or take public transportation miles away in order to shop at a full-service, reasonably-priced food store rather than at a high-priced neighborhood mini-mart stores.

In terms of Tesco Fresh & Easy's stated strategy to open a number of its its 10,000 -to- 13,000 square foot fresh food and grocery markets in "food desert" neighborhoods in Southern California, Metropolitan Las Vegas, Nevada and in the Phoenix, Arizona Metro region, the three Western U.S. markets the grocery chain currently has its stores in, the results to date have been less than...well, "strategic."

Out of the current about 104 Fresh & Easy markets Tesco operates in the three market regions, only two of the stores are located in "food desert" neighborhoods. Both of those stores are in Southern California -- one in Compton (Los Angeles) and the other in Los Angeles' Eagle Rock neighborhood, which happens to be a neighborhood undergoing fairly rapid gentrification.

None of the about 55 Fresh & Easy stores in the Metro Las Vegas and Phoenix markets are in low-income, inner city neighborhoods previously underserved by supermarkets. Most of the Arizona stores are in the Phoenix suburbs, in fact.

In terms of Las Vegas, Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market had an opportunity, including an offering of an economic incentive package by the city of Las Vegas, in late 2007 and in early 2008 to locate a Fresh & Easy market in a low-income West Las Vegas neighborhood underserved by supermarkets. However, the grocery chain wasn't interested in the location. A Southern California-based independent supermarket chain, Buy-Low markets, went into the location and recently opened a supermarket in the "food desert" neighborhood in West Vegas.

In terms of new stores in development, Tesco has a Fresh & Easy market being built in a low-income neighborhood in south Los Angeles that is underserved by food stores offering groceries and fresh foods at reasonable prices. That store is scheduled to open sometime in 2009. [Read our July, 2008 report here and an additional story here.]

Additionally, the grocery and fresh foods chain plans to build a Fresh & Easy market near downtown Tempe, Arizona. Downtown Tempe has been without a supermarket for many years. And although the proposed new Fresh & Easy store isn't in the downtown core, it is just about one mile away, making it at least a semi-"food desert" location. [Read our story here: Arizona Region Market Report: A Fresh & Easy Buzz Flashback - Tesco to Locate New Fresh & Easy One Mile Outside Downtown 'Food Desert' Tempe, Arizona.]

In Northern California, where Fresh & Easy was to begin opening its first stores in the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento/Vacaville Metropolitan regions early in 2009 but has postponed doing so, the grocery chain has two Fresh & Easy markets slated for "food desert" neighborhoods and two units slated for what we would describe as "semi food desert neighborhoods."

One of the Fresh & Easy stores is in San Francisco's Bayview Hunter Point neighborhood, a low-income area of the city that's been without a supermarket (except for a Kroger Co.-owned FoodsCo warehouse supermarket a couple miles away) for many years, and the other in Sacramento's Oak Park neighborhood, which also is underserved. The rapidly gentrifying Sacramento neighborhood at present has only a Food Source warehouse market, owned by local supermarket chain Raley's, located on the edge of the neighborhood.

The two Fresh & Easy Northern California locations we describe as being located in "semi-food desert" neighborhoods include one near downtown Oakland and another in the small, low to middle income rural Northern California city of Oroville.

The proposed Oakland store (one of two thus far proposed in the city), is in a "semi-food desert" neighborhood, although there are Trader Joe's, Safeway and Whole Foods Market stores nearby.

Fresh & Easy was negotiating to open a third store in west Oakland, in a low-income "food desert" neighborhood near downtown. However, the retailer pulled out of those negotiations saying the location and vacant building it was considering putting the store in were unworkable. [Read our May, 2008 story here: Food Deserts: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Won't Create A Retail Grocery Store Oasis in This Particular Oakland, California Food Desert.]

The proposed store for the city of Oroville, isn't particularly in a "food desert" neighborhood. However, since the community as a whole is underserved by supermarkets because of its rural setting and lower to middle income status, we qualify the proposed Oroville unit as a "food desert" location for Tesco's Fresh & Easy.

Lastly, as we've reported, Fresh & Easy Neigborhood Market plans to open two stores thus far in the Northern San Joaquin Valley City of Modesto in Northern California.

Both of the proposed Modesto stores are in neighborhoods (in the vacant buildings) where supermarkets have closed in recent years. There are supermarkets within a short distance of residents in both Modesto neighborhoods. However, because the neighborhoods are currently without supermarkets directly in them because of the closings by the former retailers, we score these as two additional "food desert," or at least "semi-food desert," proposed Fresh & Easy store locations for Northern California, for purposes of our analysis [Read about proposed Modesto store one here and Modesto store two here.]

Fresh & Easy's 'food desert' scorecard

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's "food desert" store location scorecard then looks something like this to date:

>Total current number of stores in Southern California, Metro Las Vegas, Nevada and the Phoenix Metropolitan region equals about 104 units. Total number of those stores that are located in "food desert" neighborhoods -- equals two.

>Total number of new stores in development in "food desert" neighborhoods in these three market regions equals two; one store in south Los Angeles and the proposed Fresh & Easy market to be located on the edge of downtown Tempe, Arizona.

>Total number of stores proposed thus far for Northern California equals about 48 (Tesco's Fresh & Easy has confirmed 37 of those stores, we've discovered an additional 11 in our reporting).

>Total number of these 48 Fresh & Easy markets that are to be located in "food desert" neighborhoods or communities equals 3 units; the Bayview Hunters-Point neighborhood Fresh & Easy in San Francisco, the market in Sacramento's Oak Park neighborhood, and the proposed Fresh & Easy store in the rural city of Oroville.

>Total number of the 48 proposed to date Northern California Fresh & Easy stores to be located in "semi-food desert" neighborhoods or communities equals three; the one Oakland store not far from the Trader Joe's, Safeway and Whole Foods units, and the two Modesto markets. (we are being liberal in scoring these three stores in the "food desert" column for Fresh & Easy.)

On a percentage basis, even if you don't count the "semi-food desert locations," Fresh & Easy appears to be doing better with its proposed Northern California locations -- three out of 48 or six out of 48 if you count the "semi-food desert locations" -- than it has done to date in its three existing markets. OF course, keep in mind none of the Northern California stores have yet to even open.

This is odd in that from an economic and reality-based standpoint, Metropolitan Los Angeles, the city of Phoenix, Arizona, and Metro Las Vegas have as many or more opportunities to locate stores in inner-city neighborhoods (particularly in Los Angeles) than does Northern California.

Why the analysis and 'food desert' scorecard?

We only bring up this analysis and create the scorecard because locating its small-format, combination grocery and fresh foods markets in "food desert" neighborhoods and communities is a stated, strategic objective of Tesco's Fresh & Easy.

Additionally, It's a policy the grocery chain has used to generate much media publicity during the run-up of the opening of its first stores in November, 2007, for example.

Further, It's also something the retailer has used for immediate publicity whenever it has announced plans to open Fresh & Easy stores in underserved neighborhoods, such as on two occasions this year.

For example, earlier this year when it announced plans to built the Fresh & Easy stores in the south Los Angeles location and in Bayview-Hunters Point in San Francisco, the grocery chain held big media events that featured company CEO Tim Mason and city officials cutting ribbons (including Liberal San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who is strongly pro-union grocery chains, of which Fresh & Easy isn't), along with encouraging the local print and broadcast media to attend and cover the special events in both neighborhoods.

However, based on our scorecard, it appears to date that Tesco Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's "food desert" strategy isn't one being followed by the retailer in any real or meaningful manner. Having only two out of about 104 Fresh & Easy markets in neighborhoods underserved by supermarkets that offer fresh foods and groceries at affordable prices doesn't a key element to a retailer's overall store location strategy make, after all.

In addition, having only two (the store in south Los Angeles and the store on the edge of downtown Tempe, Arizona) of its numerous stores in development in Southern California, Nevada and Arizona located in "food desert" neighborhoods doesn't demonstrate that the grocery chain, as it has said publicly in defending its lack of stores in "food desert" neighborhoods, that it initially planned to have just a couple Fresh & Easy stores in underserved neighborhoods, then it would add a number of additional stores in such neighborhoods as time went on.

For example, Even when the two stores (south L.A. and Tempe, Arizona) open, along with the "food desert" neighborhood stores in Northern California, which is a market currently up in the air for the grocery chain anyway, it won't increase the percentage of units it operates in underserved neighborhoods. Actually, if you do the math, that percentage will actually decrease based on the number of new stores set to open in the coming year, compared to the number of those new stores, combined with existing stores, located in underserved neighborhoods.

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market spokesperson Brendan Wonacott recently told a number of Southern California newspapers, including the San Diego Union, that the grocery chain is looking to open about one new store every two weeks in 2009, down considerably from the number of new stores its opened this year, which has averaged about one new store every two to three days. If that is the schedule, that would mean opening only 26 new Fresh & Easy markets in 2009, which is less than half of the new stores in the pipeline for Northern California alone, not to mention the numerous new stores in development in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada.

As a result, this schedule would give the retailer about 130 stores at the end of 2009. That's compared to its earlier statements that it planned to have about 300 Fresh & Easy markets operating by the end of next year. If say 6-8 in total (a fair estimate) of these 130 stores are located in "food desert" neighborhoods, for example, that would mean only about 5% of the total 2009 store count would consist of stores located in underserved neighborhoods.

That doesn't seem a significant number for a chain touting such a policy as part of its strategic store location program. The percentage wouldn't be all that bad for a grocery chain that said nothing about locating stores in such low-income, inner-city neighborhoods as part of its stated policy but that's not the case regarding Tesco's Fresh & Easy, which has said all along it is committed to doing so as policy. It's hard to put the "food desert" policy genie back in the bottle when a retailer has used it successfully to gain free publicity.

WIC Vouchers, poor mothers and the 'food desert' issue

Based on our research and sources, it's our analysis that, with a few exceptions, locating its fresh food and grocery markets in "food desert" neighborhoods really is no longer a part of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's store location strategy. Reasonable people could argue that it never was, if you look at the fact that to date only two of its about 104 markets are in such neighborhoods. We give the grocer the benefit of the doubt that it was though, despite the empirical evidence to the contrary.

One of the reasons we believe the "food desert" strategy is no longer something Fresh & Easy is incorporating in any meaningful way is -- besides the observable evidence that suggests it is so -- because Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market does not even accept U.S. federal government-issued WIC Vouchers (Woman, Infant, Children's Program) from the poorest of poor mothers, who are the only people who receive the couchers, in its stores.

The vouchers, which are accepted by close to every supermarket and grocery store in the U.S., including many drug and convenience stores, are given only to mothers who are extremely poor, and can be used only by these mothers to purchase specific items for their babies and toddlers. These specific items include infant formula, whole milk, whole grain cereals, fruit juice and selected fresh fruits and vegetables.

It is in these very low-income, inner-city "food desert" neighborhoods where the majority of poor mothers who receive WIC program assistance and vouchers live, although many live in other neighborhoods where Fresh & Easy markets are located as well.

So follow the logic: Tesco's Fresh & Easy says (and generates publicity from) one of its key strategic store location strategies is to locate stores in low-income, inner city neighborhoods underserved by supermarkets. Yet, never mind it's only opened two of its about 104 Fresh & Easy markets in these "food desert" neighborhoods to date, the fact is the grocery chain doesn't even accept WIC Vouchers in its stores; the very vouchers that enable the poorest of the poor mothers to be able to buy essential and healthy items like infant formula for their babies, and fresh produce and whole grain cereal for their toddlers.

The logic of this practice is non-existent. To take it a step further, suppose Fresh & Easy opened dozens of stores in low-income, inner city "food desert" neighborhoods in 2009. Even if it did, the poorest of the poor mothers in those neighborhoods will still have to take the bus to the nearest competitor's supermarket, likely outside the neighborhood, in order to buy infant formula, fruit juice, whole milk, cereals and fresh fruits and vegetables for their babies and toddlers because Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets's corporate policy does not allow the stores to accept the WIC vouchers.

Or use a present day example: Tesco's Fresh & Easy opened a store in Los Angeles' primarily minority, low-income Compton neighborhood earlier this year. Its only one of two supermarkets for the entire 100,000 population community.

Compton has one of the highest percentages of poor single mothers in California; in the entire U.S. for that matter. Thousands of poor mothers in Compton receive WIC Vouchers from the government. For most if not all of them its the only way they could and would buy nutritious foods and beverages for their children. But, the Compton Fresh & Easy store, like all of the other Fresh & Easy markets, doesn't accept WIC Vouchers. Therefore these poor mothers can't make use of one of the only two stores in the community where they can purchase nutritious foods for their babies and toddlers.

On top of this inconsistancy, is the fact Fresh & Easy is missing out on an important source of sales by not accepting the WIC Vouchers. Ironically, the items poor mothers are allowed to purchase with the vouchers are in most cases fairly high-ring products -- infant formula, fresh, whole milk by the gallon, fruit juice, whole grain cereals -- which are just the type of items Fresh & Easy stores need to increase sales of. The federal government pays retailers 100% of the value of the WIC Voucher; it's "free money" to the grocer -- which is one reason nearly 100% of food stores not only welcome the use of the vouchers but incourage it as well.

Lastly, we believe Fresh & Easy's not accepting the WIC Vouchers is an ethical and moral issue. Can a food retailer that claims to be an ethical grocer really be one if they refuse to accept WIC vouchers from poor mothers who in most cases are only able to provide nutritious foods to their kids because they get the vouchers from the government? We think not -- that's it's rather hard to square that dilemma and honestly claim to be an ethical retailer while refusing to accept the vouchers. Imagine the flack Wal-Mart would get if it refused to accept the WIC Vouchers from poor mothers, for example. There is no possibillity of course that the mega-retailer would do so since it loves the added revenue accepting the vouchers brings its stores.

In essense, by its policy Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is saying to the poorest of the poor (and mothers at that), 'no thanks, we don't want your business in our stores.'

We've talked to Fresh & Easy store employees who on a daily basis have to refuse the WIC vouchers from poor mothers. Every single one of these store-level employees tells us they wish the company would accept them, both because they believe doing so is the ethically correct thing for the grocery chain to do, but also because they scratch their collective heads wondering why the fledgling retailer is willing to turn down added sales just because it doesn't want its store-level workers to process paper.

Fresh & Easy also doesn't accept paper checks or manufacturer's cents off coupons. It does take food stamps because they are distributed in the form of a plastic debit card. Oddly enough though, the grocery chain does accept plenty of its own, self-generated $5-off and $6-off paper store discount coupons. That sort of kills the store-level, labor saving "no paper handling" argument against not taking WIC vouchers, we believe.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has the right to open as many or as few of its small-format, combination grocery and fresh food markets in "food desert" neighborhoods as it desires. After all, its competitors' aren't exactly rushing to open stores in the low-income, inner city neighborhoods in California, Nevada and Arizona, although that is changing as other food retailers are beginning to discover opportunities in these neighborhoods and are locating more stores in them.

However, neither are Fresh & Easy's competitors saying doing so is a key part of their respective new store location strategies and corporate policies, and using it as a publicity angle to generate media ink and impressions, with the goal of that positive press being to positively influence consumers and potential customers as part of the grocery chain's brand building efforts and positioning as a socially responsible grocery chain, which is what Tesco's Fresh & Easy has done and is doing, despite having only two stores located in real "food desert" neighborhoods.

WIC Vouchers: Time for a policy change at Fresh & Easy

On the issue of not accepting WIC Vouchers from the poorest of poor mothers, we suggest Tesco's Fresh & Easy should change its policy beginning with the new year and accept WIC Vouchers. Not only is excepting the vouchers from poor mothers in the stores the ethically correct thing to do, it also makes pure economic sense from a sales perspective. We've called for the grocery chain to do so a number of times this year (click here for those posts) -- and we do so again in this piece today.

It's also is the right thing to do by store employees, who shouldn't be in the position of having to tell mothers they can't purchase infant formula and other nutritious products for their children using the government provided vouchers in a Fresh & Easy store, particularly during the current severe economic recession we are in which finds an increasing number of mothers (many for the very first time in their lives) having to use the WIC Vouchers in order to feed their babies and toddlers.

In fact, we are astounded that groups like the Los Angeles-based Alliance For Healthy and Responsible Grocery Stores -- which has been trying for well over a year to get Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market to sign an agreement with the group, saying it will locate a set number of Fresh & Easy markets in "food desert" communities -- hasn't to date said a word about the fact Fresh & Easy does not accept WIC Vouchers from poor mothers in any of its stores. Perhaps the group doesn't know this to be the case, or it has failed to make the connection between not accepting the vouchers and the "food desert" issue, which if that is the case is a considerable oversight. [Click here to read a letter the group sent to Tesco on the "food desert" issue, along with other related information. There's not a word in all of their literature about the WIC vouchers that we can find.]

For example, here is an opinion piece two leaders of the Alliance For Healthy and Responsible Grocery Stores wrote about Tesco's Fresh & Easy and the "food desert" issue in November of last year in the Los Angeles Times. There's much about wanting the grocery chain to open stores in underserved neighborhoods in Southern California, particularly in Los Angeles, but not a word about the stores' not accepting WIC vouchers, which it would seem would be an issue important to the group since the point of locating stores in low-income, inner city neighborhoods is to make available more healthy and affordable food options to residents, including the poorest of poor mothers who can only provide infant formula and healthy and nutritious foods to their children by using the government-provided vouchers. What about the poor mothers in communities where the current 100-plus Fresh & Easy markets are located, for example, including the two stores in the underserved neighborhoods in Los Angeles?

We are told by sources that the group plans to renew its call early in 2009 for Tesco's Fresh & Easy to locate more of its markets in "food desert" neighborhoods. If it does so, we will be perplexed if the alliance doesn't also call for Fresh & Easy to accept WIC vouchers for poor mothers.

After all, locating new stores is a complex process, particualrly for Fresh & Easy since it has postponed the number of new stores it plans to open next year. The success of Tesco's Western USA fresh foods and grocery retailing venture also is up for grabs at present.

However, changing its policy beginning in January, 2009 to one of accepting the WIC vouchers in all of its stores is something Tesco's Fresh & Easy can do immediatly. And it is something that not only would offer poor mothers the same shopping opportunity at Fresh & Easy stores that they have at all of its competitors, but it would also give Tesco's Fresh & Easy a potential new source of revenue. That's a win-win no matter how you look at it. Plus, it's the right thing for Tesco's Fresh & Easy to do.

Fresh & Easy Buzz Redux: Barack Obama to Tesco's Fresh & Easy in Our February 13 Piece: 'Build More Stores in Underserved Neighborhoods'

Leading Democratic Candidate for President Barack Obama Joins Group in Asking Tesco's Fresh & Easy to Put More Stores in Underserved Neighborhoods
Fresh & Easy Buzz
Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, is getting a lot of letters regarding Tesco's U.S. Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market grocery store operations during his current trip to the U.S. as Britain's official foreign trade representative.

Yesterday, we wrote about a letter written by Joseph T. Hanson, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union, to Fresh & Easy CEO Tim Mason. Hanson's letter was given to the visiting Price Andrew--who among other things was in Southern California for the grand opening of a new Fresh & Easy store in Compton, California--and the Prince was asked to personally hand-deliver it to Mason and other company senior executives. [Read our piece from yesterday here.]

But the UFCW's letter isn't the only important letter Prince Andrew recieved late last week. A Southern California-based group called The Alliance for Healthy and Responsible Grocery Stores, which is a coalition involving over 25 Southern California communties and numerous local groups and non-profit organizations, also hand-delivered a letter to the Prince, and asked him to personally give it to Tesco plc.'s CEO Sir Terry Leahy and Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Mason.

The thrust of the letter involves the group's efforts for the last few months to get Fresh & Easy to locate more of its small-format grocery markets in poor and underserved (by grocery stores) communities like the retailer promised it would when it entered the Western U.S. Market last November with the first of its stores, which currently number 43.

Further, this particular letter had a rather important author: Democratic candidate for President of the United States Barack Obama. In the letter, Obama urged Tesco, the parent company of Fresh & Easy, to "make good on its promises to build stores in neglected neighborhoods. I hope these promises will be fulfilled," the letter stated. They are actually two letters--one from Obama to CEO Tim Mason and another from the alliance to Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy and Mason. You can read both letters here.

In January before he left the race, former Democratic candidate John Edwards signed a similar letter on behalf of the alliance. That letter was sent to Tesco and Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market senior management, including Sir Terry and Mason.

The Alliance for Healthy and Responsibility Grocery Stores has been lobbying Tesco with letters and through the media primarily to sign a pledge in which the British grocer would agree to open a certain number of Fresh & Easy stores in low-income Southern California neighborhoods which are underserved by grocery stores that offer fresh foods at reasonable prices. Further, they want the retailer to agree to meet certain health and environmental pledges it made before it opened its first stores last year. Tesco says they're meeting those goals, but the coalition wants a signed agreement.

Fresh & Easy has opened at least two stores in such underserved Southern California neighborhoods thus far--one in Los Angeles and the new store in Compton--but the vast majority of the retailer's stores have so far been located in middle income neighborhhoods which have plenty of choices in terms of supermarkets.

The grocer has, however, said it will open a number of new stores in just such areas in Southern California. Tesco calls these neighborhoods "food deserts," communities which lack affordable grocery stores offering fresh foods and variety at reasonable prices. In fact, the retailer claims doing so is a key part of its Fresh & Easy store strategy in the Western U.S.

Groups like the Southern California coalition aren't so sure of that promise however since only two or three of Tesco's 43 grocery stores opened to date are in these "food deserts." The grocer did sign leases a few weeks ago though in Northern California for two stores in underserved neighborhoods in San Francisco and for three stores in underserved neighborhoods in Oakland.

Since the letter from Barack Obama was given to Prince Andrew on Friday--the same day he participated in the opening of the Fresh & Easy grocery market in Compton--which not only is one of the poorist and most underserved city's in California, but in the entire U.S. as well--we wonder how the Prince responded after reading the letter?

Compton, a city of about 100,000 residents had only one supermarket until the Fresh & Easy grocery store opened last Friday. City officials and community groups have been trying for years to get local chain's Safeway Stores, Inc., Kroger-owned Ralph's Grocery Co., and numerous others to open a store in the city. However, all of the chains and independents have declined to do so. According to the city's mayor, Tesco's Fresh & Easy was the first to take them seriously.

The residents of Compton are happy with Fresh & Easy for locating a brand new store in their city when all others refused. Of course, that doesn't mean the alliance doesn't have the right to hold Tesco's feet to the fire in terms of opening more stores in similar underserved neighborhoods, especially since Fresh & Easy executives have used this promise much to their own benefit in terms of garnering much positive publicity.

We just wonder what the Prince--who was given the name "Fresh Prince of Compton" at the store grand opening Friday--thinks about not only getting the two back-to-back letters, but also about having to be the deliveryman to Tesco. Both groups--the union and the alliance--have said they've been unable to get Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Mason to meet with them in person, which is why they decided to use the "Fresh Prince" as there emisssary last week. We suppose they figured since he is already an emissary--for Britain's foreign trade in the U.S.--they might as well take advantage of his experience in the field.

>You can read the letter signed by Barack Obama to Tesco executives here, along with reading additional information about the group's efforts.
>Tesco (here) and Fresh & Easy (here) have nothing on their respective web sites regarding the letter.

Food Deserts: Coalition to Create 'Blue Ribbon' Commission, Draft Report to Encourage Grocers to Open Stores in Underserved Los Angeles Neighborhoods

What is being called a blue ribbon commission by the Los Angeles-based Alliance for Responsible and Healthy Grocery Stores will be convened in the city to address the need for grocery stores that offer basic groceries and fresh foods at reasonable prices to locate in neighborhoods currently are underserved by such food retailers. These urban neighborhoods often are referred to as food deserts.

The alliance is a citywide coalition of 25 Los Angeles faith-based, environmental and labor organizations. Among the coalitions recent projects included a campaign to eliminate two-tier labor contracts in the region's heavily unionized supermarket industry and stopping Wal-Mart from building a big-box Supercenter in Inglewood, California.

The Alliance for Responsible and Healthy Grocery Stores is currently involved in a campaign to get Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, which is based in Southern California, to sign what the group calls a "community benefits" contract. The contract sets out certain community-oriented goals Tesco would meet, such as locating more of its Fresh & Easy grocery stores in underserved Los Angeles neighborhoods and agreeing to meet certain environmental and labor standards.

The coalition is only asking Tesco to sign such an agreement but not other major supermarket chains like Safeway Stores, Inc. or Kroger Co.-owned Ralphs, both which also are based in California, and in terms of store count and sales are much bigger than Tesco's Fresh & Easy. This singling out of Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market not only has Tesco executives wondering why, but many local grocery industry observers thinking the same thing.

The coalition has said in part the reason it's asking Tesco to sign the "community benefits" agreements is because the grocer came into the market promising to built stores in food desert neighborhoods but thus far has only opened two Fresh & Easy grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods in the city and region.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy also in a non-union shop. On the other hand Safeway and Ralph's are union supermarket chains. Since organized labor is a key member of the alliance, this non-union status also has much to do with why the group is singling out Tesco in terms of wanting the retailer to sign the "community benefits" contract regarding its Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market grocery chain and its operations in the region.

Tesco has thus far declined to meet with the alliance to discuss it's proposed "community benefits" contract.

The coalition recently held a hearing attended by 200 members in which it laid out its plans to form the blue ribbon commission to further address the food desert issue in Los Angeles, as well as to write a report designed to create methods and incentives to get major grocery chains to locate more supermarkets in Los Angeles neighborhoods deemed underserved by food stores offering groceries and fresh foods at reasonable prices.

"The latest trends in the highly competitive supermarket industry, coupled with rising food prices and our city's chronic "food desert" problem, may conspire to actually harm communities, says Amanda Shaffer, director of communications for the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College, which is a member of the coalition.

The Occidental College think tank has conducted numerous studies documenting the urban food desert situation in Los Angeles. [You can read about the centers food desert research here

The urban research center also conducted a study about Tesco's Fresh & Easy and its commitment to open stores in underserved neighborhoods as part of its strategy to locate its small-format neighborhood grocery markets in food desert regions. You can read the research institute's Tesco Fresh & Easy study at this link.

Tesco has about 31 of its 61 Fresh & Easy grocery stores located in Southern California. To date, it's opened two stores in what can be considered underserved or food desert neighborhoods in the region. One of those stores is in a Los Angeles neighborhood and the other is in the Los Angeles County city of Compton.

The alliance wants Tesco, along with other major supermarket chains, to open more stores in the city's food desert neighborhoods.

Ms. Shaffer says the coalition hopes creating the blue ribbon committee composed of leading Los Angelenos, along with writing the report which will include incentives for grocery stores to open stores in the underserved neighborhoods, that these food desert neighborhoods will start to see supermarkets bloom in them in the not too distant future.

The coalition has many heavy hitters in it representing the Los Angeles faith community, non-profit organization world, academia, organized labor and environmental groups. These groups are politically active and have strong ties at Los Angeles city hall, among the mayor and a number of members of the City Council.

You can read more about the alliance's meeting last week in which they started the ground work for the blue ribbon commission, along with the coalitions current objectives and campaigns regarding Tesco and other grocery industry companies and issues here.

Leading Democratic Candidate for President Barack Obama Joins Group in Asking Tesco's Fresh & Easy to Put More Stores in Underserved Neighborhoods

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, is getting a lot of letters regarding Tesco's U.S. Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market grocery store operations during his current trip to the U.S. as Britain's official foreign trade representative.

Yesterday, we wrote about a letter written by Joseph T. Hanson, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union, to Fresh & Easy CEO Tim Mason. Hanson's letter was given to the visiting Price Andrew--who among other things was in Southern California for the grand opening of a new Fresh & Easy store in Compton, California--and the Prince was asked to personally hand-deliver it to Mason and other company senior executives. [Read our piece from yesterday here.]

But the UFCW's letter isn't the only important letter Prince Andrew recieved late last week. A Southern California-based group called The Alliance for Healthy and Responsible Grocery Stores, which is a coalition involving over 25 Southern California communties and numerous local groups and non-profit organizations, also hand-delivered a letter to the Prince, and asked him to personally give it to Tesco plc.'s CEO Sir Terry Leahy and Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Mason.

The thrust of the letter involves the group's efforts for the last few months to get Fresh & Easy to locate more of its small-format grocery markets in poor and underserved (by grocery stores) communities like the retailer promised it would when it entered the Western U.S. Market last November with the first of its stores, which currently number 43.

Further, this particular letter had a rather important author: Democratic candidate for President of the United States Barack Obama. In the letter, Obama urged Tesco, the parent company of Fresh & Easy, to "make good on its promises to build stores in neglected neighborhoods. I hope these promises will be fulfilled," the letter stated. They are actually two letters--one from Obama to CEO Tim Mason and another from the alliance to Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy and Mason. You can read both letters here.

In January before he left the race, former Democratic candidate John Edwards signed a similar letter on behalf of the alliance. That letter was sent to Tesco and Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market senior management, including Sir Terry and Mason.

The Alliance for Healthy and Responsibility Grocery Stores has been lobbying Tesco with letters and through the media primarily to sign a pledge in which the British grocer would agree to open a certain number of Fresh & Easy stores in low-income Southern California neighborhoods which are underserved by grocery stores that offer fresh foods at reasonable prices. Further, they want the retailer to agree to meet certain health and environmental pledges it made before it opened its first stores last year. Tesco says they're meeting those goals, but the coalition wants a signed agreement.

Fresh & Easy has opened at least two stores in such underserved Southern California neighborhoods thus far--one in Los Angeles and the new store in Compton--but the vast majority of the retailer's stores have so far been located in middle income neighborhhoods which have plenty of choices in terms of supermarkets.

The grocer has, however, said it will open a number of new stores in just such areas in Southern California. Tesco calls these neighborhoods "food deserts," communities which lack affordable grocery stores offering fresh foods and variety at reasonable prices. In fact, the retailer claims doing so is a key part of its Fresh & Easy store strategy in the Western U.S.

Groups like the Southern California coalition aren't so sure of that promise however since only two or three of Tesco's 43 grocery stores opened to date are in these "food deserts." The grocer did sign leases a few weeks ago though in Northern California for two stores in underserved neighborhoods in San Francisco and for three stores in underserved neighborhoods in Oakland.

Since the letter from Barack Obama was given to Prince Andrew on Friday--the same day he participated in the opening of the Fresh & Easy grocery market in Compton--which not only is one of the poorist and most underserved city's in California, but in the entire U.S. as well--we wonder how the Prince responded after reading the letter?

Compton, a city of about 100,000 residents had only one supermarket until the Fresh & Easy grocery store opened last Friday. City officials and community groups have been trying for years to get local chain's Safeway Stores, Inc., Kroger-owned Ralph's Grocery Co., and numerous others to open a store in the city. However, all of the chains and independents have declined to do so. According to the city's mayor, Tesco's Fresh & Easy was the first to take them seriously.

The residents of Compton are happy with Fresh & Easy for locating a brand new store in their city when all others refused. Of course, that doesn't mean the alliance doesn't have the right to hold Tesco's feet to the fire in terms of opening more stores in similar underserved neighborhoods, especially since Fresh & Easy executives have used this promise much to their own benefit in terms of garnering much positive publicity.

We just wonder what the Prince--who was given the name "Fresh Prince of Compton" at the store grand opening Friday--thinks about not only getting the two back-to-back letters, but also about having to be the deliveryman to Tesco. Both groups--the union and the alliance--have said they've been unable to get Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Mason to meet with them in person, which is why they decided to use the "Fresh Prince" as there emisssary last week. We suppose they figured since he is already an emissary--for Britain's foreign trade in the U.S.--they might as well take advantage of his experience in the field.

>You can read the letter signed by Barack Obama to Tesco executives here, along with reading additional information about the group's efforts.

>Tesco (here) and Fresh & Easy (here) have nothing on their respective web sites regarding the letter.