Park Hill Thriving Communities—Denver Department of Environmental Health: Denver Healthy Food Access Initiative

Park Hill Thriving Communities (PHTC), an initiative led by the Denver Healthy People Program of the Denver Department of Environmental Health (DHP), is designed to encourage healthy eating and active living for Denver's Park Hill neighborhood through community action. Multiple strategies are being implemented, including major renovations of a neighborhood park, launching a nonprofit to promote community biking and advocating for healthy food access. Efforts around healthy food access have recently resulted in a new city-wide program—the Denver Healthy Food Access Initiative. A partnership between DHP and The Food Trust of Philadelphia with funding provided by the Colorado Health Foundation, the effort is designed to find innovative ways for encouraging healthy food retail development in Denver.The goal is to eliminate “food deserts” where limited healthy food venues exist by increasing access to grocery stores for all of Denver's residents. Policy initiatives such as zoning variances, streamlined permitting systems and tax breaks are being explored for potential strategic effectiveness in Denver. The effort is based on successes across the country that have been led by The Food Trust. The Healthy Food Initiative is led by the Denver Healthy Food Stakeholder's Group, a team of leaders representing grocery retail, city departments and community organizations that is developing a set of policy recommendations designed to create a positive environment for supermarket development in needed areas of Denver. The Initiative will facilitate implementation of policy recommendations via multi-sector collaboration over the next few years.