Detroit's health care reform starts with healthy, fresh food

Healthy food initiative in Detroit is one solution to addressing health care reform in the city.

Excerpt:

Called MI Neighborhood Food Movers, the plan is simplicity itself.

"There's no rocket science to this at all," said Lisa Johanan when we interviewed her last week. Lisa is executive director of the Central Detroit Christian Community Development Corp., and founder of Peaches and Greens grocery. "I mean it's a very simple thing – put some produce on a truck and you drive through the neighborhood."

And that's exactly what Peaches and Greens and two other suppliers do – bringing fresh vegetables and fruit into inner city neighborhoods bristling with derelict buildings, vacant lots and tons of liquor stores.

"In Detroit, 92 percent of food stamp recipients purchase their grocers from a liquor store or a gas station or a pharmacy," Lisa told us. "What kind of food do you get at a liquor store," I asked Lisa.

"You don't get anything fresh. That's for sure," she said.

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