Greetings!
In collaboration with Center for Science in the Public Interest and NorthWest Initiative (and with support from Ingham County Health Department, Capital Area Health Alliance, Capital Area Food Council, and Reality Meets Science®LLC), advocates with the campaign conducted assessments of 25 checkout aisles in six Michigan Meijer stores. The assessments revealed that only 3% of the food and beverage items offered at checkout are healthy. While Meijer still claims it offers healthy options which meet the needs of its broad and diverse customer base, 3% is far from offering a diverse array of healthy options for its diverse base. In addition, Meijer offers 32-ounce cups for fountain soda in their express lanes - a last ditch effort to promote further sugar consumption. You can read the full report below.
We are still collecting signatures on a NEW PETITION at bit.ly/askmeijer and would love your support! It will be delivered to Meijer headquarters in Grand Rapids in the coming weeks.
Also, if you're willing, we're asking Meijer customers to call Meijer customer service at 1-877-363-4537 and ask that your local Meijer store create healthy checkout aisles. Side story: I called customer service again yesterday and talked with a friendly woman named Candy. When I told her the healthy checkout idea, she loved it and said she fully agreed! :)
Lastly, if you're in the Lansing area tomorrow - Saturday, August 25th - please join us on the Walk for Healthy Checkouts to the Okemos Meijer Store. We're meeting in the NW corner of the Meijer parking lot at 2055 W Grand River Ave, Okemos, MI 48864. We'll be doing a short walk along Grand River Ave. and end at Meijer's front door where Mr. Colson, the Manager at Okemos Meijer, will greet us and hear our requests.
Again, Meijer states that “offering products and services to help our customers lead healthier lives” is a core value. This campaign is focused on respectfully encouraging Meijer to stand behind these values by making it easier to eat healthfully at checkout.
If you have questions or comments, contact me at healthycheckouts@gmail.com or
FB (https://www.facebook.com/healthycheckouts/
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/mihcoadvocates/
Twitter (https://twitter.com/MIhcoadvocates
Thanks so much for your support!
Respectfully,
Jane Kramer
Healthy Checkout Aisle Campaign Coordinator
East Lansing, Michigan