A Mobile Application to Improve Procurement and Distribution of Healthful Foods & Beverages in Baltimore City

Low-income urban communities have many small food stores, but poor access to healthier foods and beverages. The investigators will develop, implement and evaluate the feasibility of a Baltimore Urban food Distribution (BUD) web-based application (app) to improve access to affordable, healthier products from local producers/wholesalers in 38 urban corner stores in low-income Baltimore neighborhoods, using a randomized controlled trial design and assess its impact on store stocking and sales. The R34 will provide a developed and tested version of the BUD app, which will resolve challenges related to affordability and delivery of healthful foods and beverages to small food stores, permit development of new instruments, assess potential impacts at the consumer level, permitting power and sample size estimates for the full-scale clinical trial, and demonstrate the investigators' ability to recruit and retain large numbers of wholesalers, producers, and corner stores in low-income urban settings.

Inclusion Criteria: * Inclusion criteria for stores: Store owner/manager willing and able to order food through a smart phone or other internet-enabled device Store owner/manager willing to attend in-store trainings in the use of the BUD App Store located in a low-income neighborhood considered as a Healthy Food Priority Area by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future111 in East Baltimore Store located \>0.25 miles from a supermarket Store classified as a small food store (\< 4 aisles, \< 2 cash registers) Store owner/manager is English, Korean, Spanish or Mandarin-speaking for first language Inclusion criteria for wholesalers and producers: Provide service to Baltimore City (e.g., for producers, this could mean participating in Baltimore City-based farmers markets) Willing to use the BUD app, including posting and maintaining data on a minimum number of products Willing to participate with delivery services arranged Inclusion criteria for consumers (community members): * Regular customers of the store (purchase food items at least once a week in the store) identified by the small food store owner/manager enrolled in the study * Adult (between 21 years old and 75 years old) * Live/work within a 1/2 mile radius from one of the 38 small food stores participating in the study * Live in a household of at least 2 persons (criteria intended to provide a more stable sample, to reduce loss to follow-up) Exclusion Criteria: * Anticipate moving out of Baltimore City in the next 12 months * Pregnant (due to changes in diet, weight and body composition)