Baltimarket: The Virtual Supermarket Project

5/18/11. New instructions on ordering groceries online from Santoni's can be found in the right column. Click on the location closest to you!

Also, check out our main Website: Baltimarket.org

Overview

Online grocery shopping has been a means of acquiring food for many years.  However, this service has typically been limited to people with higher incomes due to delivery fees, access to Internet, and high minimum purchase requirements. The Baltimore City Health Department’s Virtual Supermarket Program (VSP), branded with the assistance of MICA as Baltimarket, expands upon this concept by allowing low-income residents with low vehicle/Internet access to place and receive grocery orders at their local library.

Made possible through the collaborative efforts of the Baltimore City Health Department, Santoni’s Super Market, Maryland Institute and College of Art, and the Baltimore City Enoch Pratt Free Library System, the VSP enables neighborhood residents to place grocery orders at their local library branch or school once a week and receive their groceries the following day at the same place for no delivery cost. The VSP increases their access to high quality affordable groceries in the very neighborhood that they live in, allowing them to bypass the difficulty and expense of catching multiple bus rides or taxi cabs in order to reach healthier food options. Residents are able to pay with cash, credit, debit and food stamps.

Additionally, to encourage healthy eating, the program provides healthy eating recipe books, healthy cooking demonstrations, and a $10 incentive for healthy food purchases. The health food incentives are issued on a customer’s first order and then every fourth order. If a customer orders from the VSP each month they have the opportunity to obtain $120.00 worth of healthy foods free of cost.

Our goal is to improve the health and wellness of Baltimore City residents by providing increased access to healthy food options at affordable, supermarket prices.

The VSP has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from its participants. 91% of participants indicated that this program “has improved their access to fresh and affordable groceries.” 73% of people indicated that it has enabled them to make healthier purchases. With retail, community, and creative design partners, the virtual supermarket will transform urban food deserts into neighborhoods that enjoy convenient, rapid access to less expensive, healthy food.

About the Locations

In 2010, two VSP library sites were selected in the Washington Village and Perkins/Middle East communities based on diet-related health indicators, food environment, income, and access to vehicles in the surrounding communities. 

As of 2011, the VSP has expanded to George Washington Elementary School (GWES) and the Cherry Hill branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library system. Cherry Hill has the second highest stroke mortality rate and the third highest heart disease mortality rate among the 55 Baltimore City communities. Moreover, food options are much more limited in Cherry Hill, and the nearest supermarket is 2.3 miles away. A VSP site at Cherry Hill should dramatically increase residents' access to healthy and affordable food.

Although we already provided service in the Washington Village community prior to opening at GWES, operation at GWES is meant to improve program reach, especially for the elementary school children and their families. The Y of Central Maryland provides children and families at GWES with nutrition education, education that is most effective when coupled with programs that increase access to healthy foods.

As of 2011, the virtual supermarket is funded by the Walmart Foundation ($100,000) and the United Way of Central Maryland ($55,250).

New Directions

As the program continues to grow, we would like to expand the virtual supermarket to additional libraries, schools, recreation centers, and community meeting places. We also hope to involve other major city grocers with the project. As sites develop, an educational component on healthy foods/lifestyles will be incorporated into the sessions.

Improving Food Access in Baltimore

Created for the U.S. Conference of Mayors held in Baltimore, Maryland in June 2011, this video highlights the academic, governmental, grassroots, and volunteer efforts to improve access to healthy affordable food in Baltimore City. Collaborations between the City of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University, and community organizations are serving to put key policy recommendations in action to make healthy food more affordable and accessible, and in doing so creating healthier people, neighborhoods and farmers.

Improving Food Access in Baltimore from Baltimore Office of Sustainability on Vimeo.