CLEVELAND — Recognizing and rewarding good grocers in Cleveland — a unique idea to keep more grocers open in the city.
The Bibb Administration has proposed a subsidy that could be coming to your neighborhood store.
Neighborhood grocery stores are critical to the overall health of the community, and the city of Cleveland is working to support local grocers with new legislation.
Dr. David Margolius, the Director of Public Health for the City of Cleveland, told me Tuesday that the administration recognizes how essential grocers are but also that grocery stores have been suffering.
He said grocers are looking at losses every year and trying to decide whether they can stay open.
He said SNAP cuts have made it worse along with rising food prices.
The administration has proposed the Good Food Retailer Certification Program.
He said the program would focus on local, independent grocers.
It would identify good food retailers in Cleveland, defined, he said, as stores that are improving the lives of residents through practices including: buying local produce, paying employees well, offering accessible hours, and accepting SNAP.
Then, those stores would become eligible for financial incentives. Mainly, the city would give them back the income tax for their employees in the city of Cleveland.
"This is in part is to stop the bleed because a number of grocery stores in our neighborhoods have already closed and we’re worried that’s going to continue without some type of intervention," said Dr. Margolius. "This isn't a magic bullet to stop all grocery store closures, but we hope that we're showing that the city of Cleveland has skin in the game and that other funders, whether it's the state, federal, or philanthropy can come in and support local grocers too."
The legislation just passed city council's health committee.
Margolius said it has a couple more stops before a full council vote, which could happen Nov. 9, but it could happen sooner or later.
If approved, he said the health department will release application information. Grocery stores will then submit applications, which will be scored, and recommendations for who the health department believes should get the subsidy will be presented to council.
He expects the program to impact about a dozen grocery stores in Cleveland.
