The retail environment affects community health. In many places, people lack access to fruits and vegetables, but can find tobacco, non-nutritious foods and beverages, and alcohol all too easily. Perhaps not surprisingly, tobacco use, poor nutrition, and excessive alcohol use are among the leading causes of chronic and deadly disease.

Changing the retail environment can change health outcomes. Stores that make the healthy choice the easy choice—by reducing tobacco marketing, stocking nutritious items, and not selling alcohol near schools, for instance—can actually improve health.

Government agencies already work with stores to make these healthy changes, but they often don’t work together. They can use our new resources and library to collaborate and create a healthy retail environment.

• Healthy Retail: A Set of Tools for Policy and Partnership: Our conversation starters, playbook, and collaboration workbook can help communities develop a comprehensive approach to improving the retail environment. With these resources, partners in tobacco control, nutrition, and excessive alcohol use prevention can work together to make stores healthier places to shop.

• Library of Healthy Retail Resources: Our new online library brings together all our healthy retail resources, including tools for regulating tobacco, providing produce, and addressing alcohol. In one location, public health practitioners can learn why healthy stores are important and find strategies and policies for reaching a variety of healthy retail goals.

We can help you create a healthy retail environment. Contact us to get started!