This idea is good on some levels, Baltimore has a disproportionately high number of poorly fed people, but the problem is that the agri giants have a stranglehold on the food supply. They prefer to sell processed crap that has a shelf life, and so obviously do the grocers. The schools should have at least a couple of hours per grade year of nutrition education. It would be far cheaper than treating all the twinkie inspired heart attacks and strokes later on.

1, quickie markets are not grocery stores so they won't stock fresh produce.

2, stores stock what sells. Fresh produce is highly perishable and if they can't sell it they won't stock it.

3, many cities pander to special interest and work to keep efficient stores out. Chicago won't allow Wal-Mart into the cities even though they are low cost and stock fresh foods. MSNBC ran a comparo story awhile back where Wal-Mart came out even or even a little ahead of Whole food's produce section but Wal-Mart is a no go in Chicago's neighborhoods even low income ones..

4, I routinely watch WIC (low income) shoppers in my local checkout. They are in a store with scads of fresh produce but their shopping cart inevitably consists of mostly prepared food items. Little or no produce. They spend way more per month to feed their family tha I do because they do not cook from scratch.

I grew up in Baltimore and I remember when there were many good supermarkets around the town. The main reason they pulled up stakes and left was NOT because the "big" chains got a stranglehold but rather the high cost, in theft, of doing business there. I think this is the huge elephant no one is talking about. These stores lost so much money because of the shoplifting. You can't feel pity for a community, that by their own actions, drove away the stores that could have contributed toward a better, more healthful lifestyle.

I was born in Baltimore and live in the Mid-South now. I'll second your motion that the death of any retail marketing effort is theft and fraud.

I worked in some gigantic marketing venues, but because the thieves would come in scoop up, and haul off in a waiting car. The fraud and the theft were so intense that it became a war zone and the remaining shoppers fled the violence and conflict. They were being robbed too. Now the 'natives' are living an 'after the thunderdome' type of existence they totally deserved.

I agree with the comment that some of the stores have to fight off the shoplifters and it is hard to get into the stores with some of them have so many people standing outside wanting money from you for other things than food. I to have seen WIC people in line and some of them eat better than I do. and some of them do spend the money on quick fix foods. but I have seen other people do the same thing and they just don't care. some of the poorer ones are working two jobs and just don't have time to fix better meals and try to feed the family on what they can get.

Chris-335678 must not have been born in a "large" urban city! If all you all going to do is complain, then it won't get fixed!! I am from Baltimore and proud of it. I grew up in Baltimore during the times of it's complete dismantling of the inner harbor to what it is today. By some "world renowned" marketing guru's, it started at the inner harbor and worked like a spiral thoroughout Baltimore.

The overall problem I see is those that want to blame crime will continue to find a reason to not want to implement new processes to turn things around!!

From what I have observed, people "like what they eat" not "eat what they like". They will eat what they are used to. I wonder if the "food czar's" energy might not be better spent upon the practical nutritional education of the children and adults. There is an exceptional school program called "Food is Elementary" by A. Demas that is excellent for this type of education. Also, offering healthier choices for snack machines and cafeteria food in schools is a great start. Sales are driven by consumer demand and if consumer demand changes than the types of foods offered will be changed.

I couldn't agree more with "tomym"! Habits are just that and can be enhanced if intervention is provided with more substance to motivate people to change. The T.V. eludes me, but did anyone see the show where some "Top" Chef went to a small town I believe in Connecticut back in March/April of this year? He receives a lot of push back in trying to provide a healthier lunch menu in an elementary school there. It's not going to be easy, but hopefully this "food czar" will produce results over time!!

A month ago Baltimore was broke.  Was laying off police and firemen.  Now they hire a food czar.  This is a joke right?  In the hood its whatever the carry out sells.  We don't give a crap about no Brussel sprouts and tofu.  Bring on the fried Lake Trout from Kimmy's Soul Food!!!!!!

I heard this program was put into motion by famous Baltimorian, and noted real food advocate, Robin Quivers. I think a Food Bill of Rights, her other idea, is over the top, but the idea of a food czar is a nice beginning. Thank you, Ms. Quivers!

The way to market fresh food to these areas is as follows. Just ban fresh food. Say that it undermines the profits of food processors. A black market would naturally develop for it. After everyone is accustomed to cooking and eating real food sometimes, "legalize" it. Yes I'm cynical.

Great...tax payers having to hire someone to tell "some people" not to eat so much fried chicken, chips, sodas, etc.

At the risk of not being P.C., but as a resident of the Baltimore area for a decade and an employee in a downtown business for the past three years, crime is a major reason grocery stores avoid poor neighborhoods. Substance abuse is rampant among adults; buying healthful food for themselves or others in their households isn't a priority. Many have children simply to get more public assistance; needless to say, purchasing nutritious food (w/ or w/o WIC) is not a priority. Homeless, abusers, mentally ill and/or change hustlers permeate the business district, so I'm sure exposure to them in the poor areas would be rampant - hardly making for a pleasant shopping experience.

In the more affluent, educated neighborhoods (e.g., Mt. Vernon, HarborEast), people seek out more healthful foods at SuperFresh and Whole Foods. Baltimore and the burbs have a thriving, foodie-approved restaurant scene.

BTW - The city school system just let go their head of food services, who tried unsuccessfully to incorporate fresh foods into the school programs, including produce grown by students. (See the latest issue of Baltimore's Urbanite magazine for details.) There are multiple reasons he's gone, including school bureaucracy, but the article reported that students weren't happy with the garden output used in their school meals. How can a city-level food czar make meaningful progress, especially for the long-term, without successfully engaging the school system?

This is so funny. I was born in Baltimore and went to High School there. It is totally amusing to me that you are saying that shoplifting and theft is the issue, like poor people are going to steal fresh broccoli carrots and rice and beans :)

If any theft is goi9ng on it is being perpetrated by the presence of quick, filling food of low nutritional value.

That community should be so lucky as to have enough awareness to steal healthy food.

I live in Baltimore and I work in the wholesale foods distribution industry. No doubt there's a lack of fresh produce and meats in many parts of Baltimore. I think the comments here regarding the fact that if the people who lived in those areas wanted healthy food they'd buy it and their local stores would be stocked with it. After all, fresh foods (produce/meats) are cheaper than processed (premade) foods.

I find it comical that Baltimore, which is consitantly raising taxes has a Food Czar. Paid for by grants no less. I'd much prefer the grants went towards something usefull. When we had the blizzard this past Winter there was talk of thousands of kids going hungry without the school breakfast/lunch programs. How about a grant to help feed those kids now in the Summer? This Czar has zero power, and is not going to convince a shop keeper to stock something that they will lose money on.

Two easy places for Baltimore to make fast easy changes regarding nutrition. The school system and Baltimore jail. I've heard that the jail food is inedible. If you want people who live in that area to "want" healthy foods, then get them started in school. You don't need a Czar for that, you need a menu change.

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I too was born and raised in Baltimore - there were never large grocery stores in the City. Instead, there were a lot of Mom & Pop stores, including my great-uncle who was a green grocer in South Baltimore. What we did have, and have lost, were the A-rabs who went up and down the streets in their horse-drawn carts selling produce directly to people at their door step.

I agree that engaging the schools is critical, but getting neighborhood churches involved, perhaps using them as CSA pick up sites (assuming the CSA accepts food stamps and WIC), is another promising mechanism for shifting attitudes and preferences within parts of the City that don't have a Whole Foods Market.

Hmmm...If people are obese and crime is rampent, how about we stop thinking like communists/socialists and start thinking like freakin Americans! I live in Baltimore now. I've had my car broken into 3 times in the past 2 years. I've had gun fights and drug sales going on in my appartment complex. Domestic violence and general piss poor attitude of the people around here cause me to not even want to talk to people. Every five minutes I hear of someone 'starving' or someone getting out of jail because the tax payers can't afford to keep them in.

Here's a freakin idea for you all. Take some state owned land, cultivate it, grow stuff. Take punks off the street and put them in probation requiring them to work 8 hours a day on a farm. By the time they get home they'll be too tired to do bad and while they're there they'll be too busy to form gangs. When all is said and done, we should be left with some fresh produce, a probation system that might actually be affective and it will all cost???? some land and a bus ride to and from the farm.

i know I'm going to be called ignorant, or whatever, for my 'cool hand luke' solution to this situation but I think it would work. That has been the only successful solution to every situation in which the economy went in the toilett or crime rose. Remove the sloth, remove the crime. Tire people out and they won't have time or effort to get angry enough to steel or commit crimes.

It worked for Jamestown, no gold, but hey lets grow Tobacco and Sugar and become the richest colony ever! It worked for Roosevelt's New Deal, no money no jobs? Go build a damn some roads and state parks, keep half your pay and save half your pay. I know this will probably get me into trouble, but it worked for keeping the slaves (Both black and white) under their master's rule. I know guns, shakles and the inherent racism of the south also helped, but if you're going to work all day outside, by nightfall you are just going to be too tired to do anything.

As for a food Czar or anyone else teaching what people should eat, it just won't happen. If I weigh 300 lbs, have 3 kids and am on food stamps, chances are likely that, even after watching food network and sitting through classes, I'm buying the potato chips and leaving the veggies for the rabbits. It's just how it is. People in these situations are tired, and more than likely miserable. They're going for soul food to make them feel better. It's a proven fact that food elevates mood and that causes people to eat this much. The ONLY way to solve the situation is to say food stamps only buy food on this list. Any food not on this list is not for food stamps.

Is "Spicy Bluto" Commander in Chief of this discussion? We don't get anywhere by insulting people or their opinions. This would certainly be a more productive conversaton if you weren't slinging the insult "dumbass" at people you disagree with.

On that note, they are right to say the city will be paying for a portion of this person's salary. The article mentions one major funding source as a group of charities which have only agreed to 30hrs per week for one year. This is for the research she will put into finding solutions to the problems. When a solution is reached, the city will cerainly foot a hefty portion of the bill in order to implement her plan. One of this woman's first ideas that the city has already put into action is offering "free" bags of fresh produce at libraries in the area. People pay for them with food stamps and the groceries are delivered to the library next day. Who do you think pays for food stamps? They aren't magic money. Additionally, libraries are tax-payer funded just by themselves. So every aspect of that plan is another dent in the so-called budget.

Whatever other ideas she comes up with and whatever ideas are used in the end, the stores cannot be forced to provide something the market itself has not supported and so will certainly be subsidized by "city funds".

Regardless of personal opinion, I would certainly look deeper into any given situation before spontaneously calling people names who don't agree with you.

I have lived in Baltimore for 40 years, and can tell you that, in neighborhoods where the citizens don't behave like wild animals, there are no shortage of grocery stores, farmer's markets, and roadside stands. Part of living in Baltimore has always been enjoying local corn, tomatoes, and melons in the summertime. But East and West Baltimore exist in a state close to anarchy due to drugs and gangs. Nobody wants to do business there-and shoplifting is the least of their worries, it is armed robbery and outright homicide that merchants fear. Until the crime in these blighted neighborhoods is controlled, no merchant (or chain store) will risk opening a store there.

Comprehensive grade school nutrition education is paramount...that is, in my view, the ONLY way to change perceptions of food and optimal nutrition. It will take a generation or two, as the bringing to light of the dangers of smoking did...There ARE many resources available...as MS. Obama found out....and many people are very knowledgeable as to the best ciricullum to convey to growing children.

I lived in urban Baltimore. I shopped at grocery stores that carried plenty of produce. Aldi has tons of produce. The perception that quick marts don't carry fresh produce is simply false. 7-11 and similar quick marts all carry fruit, fresh salads, and veggie packs. Clearly, there is a market in those neighborhoods for good food. Small cash and carry stores that carry nothing but soda and chips do exist, but they are not the only option.

Theft is definitely a problem. And despite what some people may assume, fresh produce and other healthy foods do get stolen. I worked at an urban health food store for three years. We had a constant theft problem. We also had so many paying customers that the theft hardly mattered. Please note - this was an amazingly successful health food store in an urban area. Most of our customers walked to the store. It was owned by a huge corporate company. It can be done and done successfully. The real issues - ignorance, intolerance, false assumptions, racism, prejudice and fear.

This focus on blighted neighborhoods is lame. Obesity in this country is not a poor people problem it is an American people problem that stems from our food culture as a nation. Just as the czar points to produce poor cash and carry stores in urban Baltimore, I could point to giant movie theaters in rich suburban areas that offer nothing but popcorn and candy and have McDonald's on every corner. We need to think about ways to change out food culture as a nation. The day I can get a steamed artichoke with garlic butter dip at the street fair will be the day this nation has finally changed their food culture in a meaningful and effective way.

Another strategy founded in the belief that government can fix everything.

Simply take a look at Baltimore, and you realize what a failure that concept is.

Baltimore and Detroit - poster cities for stupidity.

I am a new Baltimore City resident from Northern NJ, currently studying at the University of Baltimore. As a resident of reservoir hill I often travel to several different neighborhoods to get my groceries because of the various food selections not being offered. One observation that I did notice while shopping at an area supermarket was the a food stamp recipient's groceries consisted of candy, cookiees, cakes pies and soda's. I remember thinking, are people on state programs regulated to any type of nutritional guidelines? I certainly do not have an answer for the nutritional disparities affecting Baltimore city, nor am I suggesting that food stamp recipients not have the freedom of desserts as we all do. I would however like to volunteer to help the city with it's effort to improve fresh food awareness locally. As a displaced administrative health care manager coordinating cancer care assistance, I realize how important healthy eating habits can benefit us all.

I have been on food stamps in the past so I can tell you that, no, there is no program to regulate the type of food one gets with their food stamps. Nor should there be. Being poor doesn't mean one should have to give up unalienable rights. However, if a store does not sell meat they are not allowed to accept food stamps. I eat several fruits and vegetables a day and I cook a lot of my own meals. I can also tell you that all you can get with food stamps is food. You cannot get, for example, soap or toothpaste. I realize that was not the point you were trying to make. My point is that people often have a misinformed perception of food stamp recipients. Please do not judge someone based on the contents of their cart. I am sure there have been times when we have all made a junk food run. You do not live with that person, you have not been to their home, you have not lived a day of their life, you do not know what their daily meals or struggles are.