Food System/Community Grocery RFI

The Center for Health Equity is excited to learn from you about what it’s like to get food and groceries in Louisville.

The 2017 Louisville Health Equity Report’s recommended that Louisville made healthy foods more accessible. The report suggested that it would take a lot of different solutions at many different levels. That includes government policy, organizations, and businesses helping to make it easy for people to have a chance to get healthy foods.

We will report your recommendations to Metro Council, and use them to help determine how the Council’s $3.5 million bond allocation will be spent to provide a community grocery.

 

Thank you for your comments. The response period is now closed.

 

In this map, darker blue areas indicate regions where more households lack access to a vehicle.  Without this access, residents rely on public transport, walking, or sharing rides with others to get to the grocery store.  In the areas where the fewest households have access to a car (in dark blue), there is rarely a grocery store within a mile of where people live.  These areas include parts of the west Downtown area and neighborhoods including Russel, California, Limerick, Park Hill, and Algonquin. “Full service grocery locations” indicated with a star are places like Kroger.  “Dollar General and Family Dollar” locations are marked with a  triangle.  They may sell some food products but the selection is often limited to processed food.  “Specialty grocery stores” marked with a circle are  typically places that have limited products as well, such as a butcher or deli.

 

Request for Information: Louisville Food System Needs

 

Publication Date: August 31, 2020

 

Agencies:

Louisville Metro Department of Public Health & Wellness Center for Health Equity

 

Dates:

Information was submitted by September 13, 2020 at 11:59pm.

 

Comments Closed:

September 13, 2020 at 11:59pm.

 

Agency: Louisville Metro Department of Public Health & Wellness (LMPHW) Center for Health Equity (CHE)

Summary: The Louisville Metro Department of Public Health & Wellness Center for Health Equity sought comment from the public on issues and challenges with Louisville’s food system and a $3.5 million bond allocation from the Louisville Metro Council for a community grocery.

 

Supplementary Information:

• Louisville Metro Council FY 2020-2021 Capital Budget 
• Snapshots of grocery outlets and other determinants
  • Food retail locations and percent of households with no vehicle access (West Louisville)
  • Food retail locations and percent of households with no vehicle access (Jefferson County)
  • Food retail locations and percent of population in poverty
• More information on food systems and health from past LMPHW Health Equity Reports at healthequityreport.com.

Public Input:

Through this RFI, CHE sought input from residents, organizations, and other entities that capture the realities of Louisville’s food system and food insecurity.

 

Specifically, we sought input on your challenges and recommendations on accessing healthy, affordable food, and accessing a grocery store. In this regard, please keep in mind the following:

• Residents who had multiple needs, concerns and/or recommendations, were permitted to make multiple submissions.
• For the purposes of this RFI, “food insecurity” means the disruption of food intake or eating patterns because of lack of money and other resources, anxiety over food sufficiency or shortage of food in the house and resulting in disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake.

 

How the information will be used:

The Center for Health Equity will review all responses. Our goal is to learn about the visions of residents in the current context for a thriving food ecosystem so decision-makers in Louisville Metro Government and Louisville Metro Council can better understand how the community envisions overall needs and supports for residents.

The Center for Health Equity will highlight insights from this RFI to the Metro Council on issues related to Louisville’s food system and ideas from the public on improving this system across the community. While we may not be able to include all recommendations and feedback into a formal presentation, all responses will be provided to the Council.

Finally, the Center for Health Equity is planning for the release of a Request for Proposal (RFP) in alignment with the Louisville Metro Council’s $3.5 million allocation for a community grocery. Responses specifically related to the community grocery allocation of $3.5 million will be used to inform the crafting of the grocery RFP. 

 

Submission Questions:

1. How should Louisville Metro Government support the reduction of food insecurity for Louisville residents?
2. The Louisville Metro Council has allocated $3.5 million in the Fiscal Year 21 (FY21) Capital Budget to support the development of a grocery in an “underserved area.” (See the exact language in the Supplementary Information section in the Capital Budget document.) This store would be placed in an area of the county where getting to a grocery store and/or accessing affordable food is not the easy choice. 
   1. Given those guidelines, what are important considerations for developing a grocery store? This can include location, ownership and operations model, and more.
   2. What suggestions do you have to make sure this grocery store meets the needs of community, including ensuring healthy food is available and affordable for residents?
3.  What ZIP code do you live in?

Please note:

This RFI is being issued for information and planning purposes only, including to define the parameters of an RFP and support ongoing communications for Metro Council. It should not be construed as a solicitation or an obligation on the part of Louisville Metro Government, the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health & Wellness, or its Center for Health Equity (CHE). CHE does not intend to issue any grant or contract awards based on responses to this invitation, or to otherwise pay for the preparation of any information submitted or for the department’s use of such information.

 

When reporting out information publicly, CHE will not post comments that contain vulgar language, personal attacks of any kind, or offensive terms that target specific individuals or groups. CHE will not post comments that are clearly off-topic, that promote specific services, products, private entities or businesses, or that infringe on copyrights. Comments that make unsupported accusations will also not be published. CHE will not publish any comments that contain personal identifying or private medical information about a third party, especially information restricted from release under the Privacy Act or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

 

For Further Information: Visit the Center for Health Equity website at https://louisvilleky.gov/government/center-health-equity or email [email protected] or call 502-574-5883.