Супермаркет - злейший враг здорового питания

"Standard supermarkets are designed to promote consumption of foods that are high in sugar and preservatives," explains Sanghvi, "because those are the high-margin items that maximize profit." According to current guidelines, in an average 10,000-square-foot supermarket, only 500 square feet must be utilized for fresh produce."

"The current supermarket template is not behavior neutral," Sanghvi explains. "The more times you bump into something at eye level, the more likely you are to purchase it, and store owners are aware of this. There's a lot of product placement and they're all about having the candy in front of the cash register for kids."

Trying to encourage impulse buys may be obvious, but some factors driving shopping behaviors are more subtle. Bakeries are located toward the back of the store so the aroma will draw shoppers past items that might not be on their list, but which are likely to end up in the cart if spotted. Likewise dairy cases—where almost every shopper goes on every visit—tend to be in the rear. And for anyone who has ever wondered why supermarkets tend to be chilly, Sanghvi reports that heavy A/C actually triggers a basic human instinct: when we're cold, we want to accumulate more food.

Of course, keeping the air cool in order fill carts also increases the store's energy expenditure. Add to that the fact that most supermarkets are windowless and brightly lit with fluorescent bulbs, and the environmental inefficiencies become glaring.

Seeing an exact correlation between obesity and supermarket need was no surprise, but when she added a layer to the map showing the presence of health department clinics, a light went on. There was no shortage of clinics in the high supermarket need areas, but, she observed, the clinics seemed like a solution delivered several steps too late to address the root problem. "People go to clinics once they already have diabetes and hypertension, but people go to supermarkets every day." So how can the supermarket become a venue for thinking and talking about health?

Супермаркет - злейший враг здорового питания

"Standard supermarkets are designed to promote consumption of foods that are high in sugar and preservatives," explains Sanghvi, "because those are the high-margin items that maximize profit." According to current guidelines, in an average 10,000-square-foot supermarket, only 500 square feet must be utilized for fresh produce."

"The current supermarket template is not behavior neutral," Sanghvi explains. "The more times you bump into something at eye level, the more likely you are to purchase it, and store owners are aware of this. There's a lot of product placement and they're all about having the candy in front of the cash register for kids."

Trying to encourage impulse buys may be obvious, but some factors driving shopping behaviors are more subtle. Bakeries are located toward the back of the store so the aroma will draw shoppers past items that might not be on their list, but which are likely to end up in the cart if spotted. Likewise dairy cases—where almost every shopper goes on every visit—tend to be in the rear. And for anyone who has ever wondered why supermarkets tend to be chilly, Sanghvi reports that heavy A/C actually triggers a basic human instinct: when we're cold, we want to accumulate more food.

Of course, keeping the air cool in order fill carts also increases the store's energy expenditure. Add to that the fact that most supermarkets are windowless and brightly lit with fluorescent bulbs, and the environmental inefficiencies become glaring.

Seeing an exact correlation between obesity and supermarket need was no surprise, but when she added a layer to the map showing the presence of health department clinics, a light went on. There was no shortage of clinics in the high supermarket need areas, but, she observed, the clinics seemed like a solution delivered several steps too late to address the root problem. "People go to clinics once they already have diabetes and hypertension, but people go to supermarkets every day." So how can the supermarket become a venue for thinking and talking about health?