If you caught this story on MPR a few weeks ago, you may have heard how zoning laws in St. Paul can keep neighborhood-serving businesses, like corner stores, out of residential areas. While these policies might seem like technical planning details, they have a huge real-world impact as they contribute directly to food deserts by preventing small-scale, walkable food access from taking root in communities that need it most.
At BrightSide Produce, we believe everyone deserves access to fresh fruits and vegetables no matter where they live. That’s why we started with the Healthy Corner Stores program, where we partner with small stores in underserved neighborhoods to ensure access to affordable, high-quality produce.
Why Corner Stores Matter
In areas where zoning laws prohibit grocery stores or cafes from opening in residential zones, corner stores may be the only walkable option for fresh food. Yet these small stores often cannot stock enough produce to meet a wholesale order, so owners might grab a few apples and oranges from another, larger retail outlet to resell, at even higher prices. Additionally, this takes time and effort and carries financial risks associated with stocking perishable merchandise, so many stores simply do not offer fresh food, creating food deserts. That’s where BrightSide steps in.
Our team helps stock fresh produce in corner stores across St. Paul and Minneapolis, using a distribution model that’s been refined and expanded over the past decade. We reduce risk for store owners by delivering fruits and vegetables in the exact quantities they need and in some cases, buying back unsold produce the following week.
Zoning, Food Deserts, and Systemic Barriers
The connection between zoning policy and food access is invisible but powerful. When walkable, small-scale commerce is prohibited from residential neighborhoods, people must either drive to a large retail center or, if transportation is a barrier, they may rely on gas stations for groceries.
As highlighted by MPR News and in Luke Hanson’s three-part series, cities like St. Paul have a chance to modernize their zoning codes to support healthier, more walkable neighborhoods. BrightSide’s Healthy Corner Stores program is one way we’re already working toward that future by meeting people where they are and filling the gaps left by policy.
One Block at a Time: Changing Systems Through Fresh Produce
At BrightSide, our approach is practical, immediate and systemic. Each time we deliver to a neighborhood store, buy back unsold produce at the end of the week, or deliver directly to food-insecure folks’ doorsteps, we’re ensuring that fresh produce is affordable and accessible today and showing that a different model is possible.
Our Healthy Corner Stores program currently supports over 40 small stores in neighborhoods across Minneapolis and St. Paul, many located in federally-recognized food deserts. The map below shows the locations of our corner store partners overlaid with Twin Cities food deserts. These partnerships don’t just increase access to fruits and vegetables, they help build community resilience, support small BIPOC-owned businesses, and demonstrate how food systems can evolve from the ground up, while still working within the current structure.
We also know that long-term change means shifting the systems that created these gaps in the first place. Updating outdated zoning rules, investing in small-scale food infrastructure (like farmers markets), and listening to community needs are all part of the equation. Additional policy shifts can help bring back the kind of neighborhood-serving businesses, like corner stores with real food, that once defined walkable, thriving communities.
Until that change happens, BrightSide Produce will keep showing what’s possible.
Want to get involved?
Support our Healthy Corner Stores program by subscribing to the Online Farmers Market or making a donation.
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Read more about zoning and food access here: