Dr. Betty Kennedy, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, described the Rolling Store project, and its potential as a model for poor communities, on June 14 at the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB)/8th International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Conference (IUBMB) in Boston.

The rural Mississippi River Delta region has one of the nation's highest rates of households with incomes below the federal poverty line. Residents also rank high nationally in obesity and in increased mortality from diseases known to be associated with poor nutrition, including cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Barriers to better nutrition in the Lower Mississippi Delta may include money; on a cost per calorie basis, fruits and vegetables rank among the most expensive foods, rivaling shrimp, lobster, and caviar.

They may include awareness, and they almost certainly include a limited transportation infrastructure in this rural area where the system of roadways is poor and only one bridge crosses the 215-mile stretch where the Mississippi River bisects the Delta. Unlike higher income families with better transportation, a substantial proportion of the poor in this area relies heavily on convenience stores for food purchases.

Researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the Agricultural Research Service, USDA, in Little Rock, Arkansas, created a six month pilot project to examine the impact of the availability of better food choices. All of the 40 rural, low-income, African-American women participating in the study were
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Contact: Sarah Goodwin
asbmb04@bellsouth.net
770-270-0989
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
14-Jun-2004