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Local Woman Recognized For Getting Philly's Corner Stores To Become Healthier

By John Ostapkovich

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A 30-year-old Philadelphia woman has been recognized for her work trying to improve food choice for thousands of people for whom seeing a supermarket is about as common as seeing Superman.

"Food deserts," as they are known, exist in many cities, but Brianna Almaguer Sandoval of the Food Trust Corner Store Initiative focuses on Philadelphia, Camden and Norristown.

"Temple University conducted a study with the Food Trust to see the impact of corner stores on children's lives, and we found that 53% of them were shopping at corner stores at least once a day," she said.

The Initiative has persuaded more than 650 corner store owners to offer more healthful fare, but to make this work, people actually have to buy it, so there's a customer outreach too.

"We also do nutrition education in nearby public schools and we even have nutrition education taking place inside our corner stores," Sandoval said.

Sandoval was named a young food leader by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

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