Grocery gap? What grocery gap?

As a Seattle native I regularly browse my hometown papers, and last week I stumbled onto a story about a new supermarket opening up just a mile or so from my boyhood home. The idea that a news article about a new Safeway would pique my interest may seem a little strange, but in light of the dwindling number of grocery stores in the inner-cities of America, this article caught my eye.

Things in Bellevue, WA have changed a bit since I left for college 18 years ago, but not for the worse. These days those lucky enough to live and work on the Eastside of Lake Washington across from Seattle are awash in choices for restaurants, high-end clothing stores, cafés, theatres, and of course local supermarkets.

"Up to 40 percent of the produce is organic, the pharmacy in the back is outfitted with cherry wood and looks like a doctor's office and the wine cellar is temperature controlled, encased in glass and features bottles that cost up to $550. Safeway operates about 1,750 stores nationwide and just four have wine cellars.

To show off the new digs and lure in the public, Safeway will offer free food samples from 21 departments through Sunday. A baby grand piano has been set up near the cash registers to play live music through Sunday, too.

Among other upscale features, the seafood bar has doubled in size and features whole octopus, shark steaks and Chilean sea bass. As a promotion, king crab legs will be on sale for $10 per pound and Safeway has brought in a chef from Chateau Ste. Michelle to prepare crab leg samples."

I HAVE to check this place out. From my count, since the opening of Safeway's new "Elite" store, the good people of Bellevue (including its most famous resident and the world's richest person, Bill Gates) will have a plethora of grocery choices within a short distance from their homes and offices. Competing with the city's two Safeways for business include two Whole Foods, one QFC, one Thriftway, and of course life just isn't the same without a Trader Joe's near by (for those great deals on a case of Pinot or a huge block of brie).

Meanwhile, access to fresh, healthy foods is becoming unavailable for millions of low-income, mostly African-American and Hispanic families in the inner cities of the same country where others stroll the sushi aisles and wine cellars while listening to Mozart. Grocery stores carrying healthy fruits, vegetables, and other staples of a healthy diet are disappearing, forcing many who live in these communities to either travel longer distances to stock their refrigerators with these essential items, or serve their families fast food.

"In one corner of southeast Queens, four supermarkets have closed in the last two years. Over a similar period in East Harlem, six small supermarkets have closed, and two more are on the brink, local officials said. In some cases, the old storefronts have been converted to drug stores that stand to make money coming and going -- first selling processed foods and sodas, then selling medicines for illnesses that could have been prevented by a better diet.

Many people in low-income neighborhoods are spending their food budget at discount stores or pharmacies where there is no fresh produce," said Amanda Burden, the city's planning director. "In our study, a significant percentage of them reported that in the day before our survey, they had not eaten fresh fruit or vegetables. Not one. That really is a health crisis in the city."

Childhood obesity and heart disease may have leveled off in some populations in the US, but that's not the case for African-American and Hispanic populations where these diet-related diseases are on the rise. And, sadly, it's the young people of these communities that will pay a price as they enter adulthood already facing a lifetime of serious health problems as the "Grocery Gap" continues to widen.

One organization helping bring an end to these and other serious systemic problems in these communities across the country is the Prevention Institute. Their ENACT tool helps communities establish better nutrition and higher activity levels through a series of goal-oriented projects.