Giving Compass' Take:

• Sam Bloch at The New Food Economy speaks with a Los Angeles corner store owner on his idealistic vision of bringing healthy, affordable food to a neighborhood where it’s hard to come by.

• How can organizations and donors help support communities have access to healthy and affordable foods? 

• Here's how food banks are making the move to fresh produce. 

Earlier this month, Danny Park reopened his parents’ Los Angeles corner store. Best Market, as it was known, was in many ways an ordinary mom-and-pop shop. Park and his mother worked the register. They sold sundries, like batteries, Pepto-Bismol, Mentos and rolling papers. Racks of chips and candies sat near the entrance. The store’s two aisles of food were stocked with pantry staples, like beans, tuna, jam, and bread. Drinks were in back.

The Skid Row Peoples’ Market, as it’s now called, is different. The store has been redesigned and repainted, with new flooring, refrigerators, and a freezer. There’s a fresh produce section: a tasteful, wooden end-cap display, stocked with bananas, pears, avocados, and cucumbers donated for sale by Imperfect Produce. At a remodeled deli counter, Park sells $3 potato and pasta salads, which he makes at a downtown kitchen shared with a business partner.

Read the full article on fresh produce in corner stores by Sam Bloch at The New Food Economy