Prince George’s County Vice Chair Wala Blegay (D, District 6) held a press conference alongside several restaurant owners and advocates on July 18 to support her legislation to bring healthier food options to the area, just before a scheduled Council session where the bill was enacted. The bill passed with seven votes in favor, two votes opposed, one abstention and one absence.
CB-46, which was sponsored by Blegay, will provide incentives to restaurants offering food deemed healthy by the Health Department’s Healthcare Action Coalition and a registered dietician. At least 40% of said restaurant’s meals must be deemed healthy, and at least one healthy plant-based meal must be offered. County support would be offered in the form of zero-interest loans, publicity, marketing, promotion during annual Restaurant Weeks, and other incentives.
“Prince George’s County has very limited healthy restaurant options. In my district and in Prince George’s County, heart disease is one of the leading causes of death,” said Blegay. “Residents in my district have been demanding access to better food options, so they have an opportunity to live healthier lives. We need to provide residents with these amenities to improve their quality of life. Having healthy eating options is essential and will prevent residents from leaving Prince George’s County to search for healthy restaurant options.”
According to the Prince George’s Department of Health, one out of every three American adults is living with pre-diabetes. Being overweight and obese are risk factors for pre-diabetes and can lead to Type 2 diabetes.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 70% of adults both in Prince George’s County and in the U.S. are classified as overweight. Prince George’s County had .85 fast food restaurants per 1,000 residents in a 2016 health study, and there has been significant growth in fast food establishments since then,
“We want to help small businesses come to our community, offer healthy options and be successful,” said Blegay in a statement provided to the Informer. “The County gives incentives to developers, and there’s no reason we can’t do the same for these small businesses providing an amenity that makes people want to live and work in Prince George’s County.”
Fresh Green co-founders Duane and Tori King, Everlasting Life Founder and CEO Baruch Ben-Yehuda and Tropical Smoothie cafe franchise owner Clement Troutmant attended the press conference to show their support for the potential legislation.
“Thank you, Vice Chair Wala, for this bill,” said Duane King. “Today is the day. We’ve gone through so many health challenges together, and my wife is currently battling. Today, we are making the change we need to make, to fix our diet. With the birth of Fresh Green, we have focused on the food deserts of Prince George’s.”
Heaven Jordan, of the Food Equity Council, said picking healthy food options can be a challenge when there’s nothing but fast food around.
“It’s very difficult to choose healthy foods when your community is oversaturated with fast-food restaurants,” said Jordan. “This is due to the lack of healthy options in our community.”