DC Central Kitchen and the Global Food Institute at The George Washington University recently published a policy brief showcasing DCCK’s Healthy Corners program. The new publication builds on our existing open-source resources and serves as an accessible introduction and toolkit for policymakers, funders, and public sector leaders working to expand access to healthy, affordable food in their own communities.
“Communities don’t have to start from scratch to improve food access,” said Stacy Dean, Carbonell Family Executive Director of the Global Food Institute. “DC Central Kitchen’s Healthy Corners program shows how investing in the neighborhood retailers people already rely on can expand access to healthy food while supporting local businesses and creating stronger local food systems.”
In addition to highlighting the demand for and benefits of the Healthy Corners blueprint, the publication emphasizes its scalability. This new brief expands on DCCK’s comprehensive, open-source Building Healthy Corners: A Best Practice Guide by offering a simplified roadmap to replicate DCCK’s model in other places around the country. That 2025 publication was produced in collaboration with several key partners, including The Global Food Institute and the Partnership for a Healthier America.
“We strive to be practicing advocates working at the intersection of direct service innovation, local economic development, and policy-relevant solutions with scalable impact,” said DC Central Kitchen President and CEO Mike Curtin. “This new brief offers a user-friendly look at how we’ve done just that in our nation’s capital over the past 15 years.”
As we mark the 15th anniversary of Healthy Corners this month, our award-winning model continues to deliver discounted, healthy produce to corner stores in DC’s low-income communities. For a decade and a half, we have proudly offered fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables to store owners at wholesale prices and in smaller quantities than a conventional distributor, alongside trust-building customer engagement and robust technical assistance for our partner small businesses. For more information on DC Central Kitchen’s Healthy Corners program – including a full list of participating corner stores, numerous program resources, and more – visit our site.