Executive summary: Recommendations to Promote Healthy Retail Food Environments

The retail food environment, both in-store and online, is an important driver of dietary choices and dietary quality. Diet quality in the United States is low and contributes to high rates of diet-related chronic health conditions. Inequitable access to healthy food environments and unequal exposure to unhealthy food marketing contribute to persistent differences in diet quality and health outcomes based on race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. In January 2023, the CSPI in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, convened food and beverage retailers and manufacturers, SNAP participants, and public health researchers, practitioners, and advocates. The purpose of this convening was to develop policy recommendations to support healthy food retail and healthy food marketing in-stores and online.