A major initiative on the plates of many municipalities is increasing access to fresh foods for low-income households. These projects work with local communities and agricultural providers to ensure affordable fruits and vegetables are made available to low-income families.
Building Sustainable Food Ecosystems
Ensuring all residents live within close proximity to fresh fruits and vegetables is a key component to combating hunger, and improving public health and quality of life. A recent study from the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association discussed the challenge many cities face to address both supply and demand of healthy food options through policymaking. The four main barriers to healthy food access outlined in the research include:
- Physical: Finding healthy food
- Economic: Affording healthy food
- Educational: Making healthy food choices, cooking healthy food
- Cultural: Wanting healthy food that is available and affordable
To overcome these barriers and successfully launch sustainable food ecosystems, the researchers identified recommendations for policymakers to consider:
- Understand the local context when developing food access strategies
- Increase the purchasing power of low-income residents
- Make healthy food available in all neighborhoods
- Ensure people know how to cook and make healthy food choices
- Reduce demand for unhealthy food while increasing demand for healthy options
- Support research that evaluates food access initiatives
When increased access to fresh fruits and vegetables is achieved, and a cultural shift toward healthy eating has occurred, cities will start to notice:
- Reduced food insecurity
- Lower obesity and diabetes rates
- Increase in fruit and vegetable consumption
- Higher number of people reporting access to affordable, healthy foods
- Decrease in the number of residents living in poverty
- Reduction of households living below the self-sufficiency standard
Funding Food Projects
One way many cities can overcome barriers to building sustainable food ecosystems is by optimizing federal funding. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has made $31.5 million in grants available to programs nationwide in an effort to connect low-income populations fresh food options through incentive strategies.
In addition, the USDA administers the Women, Infants and Children Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program which provides supplemental foods, healthcare referrals and nutrition education for free to low-income pregnant and new mothers, as well as infants up to 5 years old.
The WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program allocated a federal grant to Catawba County Public Health Farmers Market in North Carolina to help eliminate a local food desert by creating an incredibly accessible farmers market. The market received recognition for innovation in local government from The Innovations Group after deploying an electronics benefit transfer system to allow shoppers to transfer their government food benefits to vendor accounts using their SNAP cards.
The county-sponsored market was originally launched to increase the rate of redemption of WIC Farmers Market vouchers in Catawba County. After two years, the farmers market achieved a 64 percent redemption rate, the highest participation in North Carolina. When customers were surveyed, 84 percent of all customers said the market helped increase the amount of fresh produce their family ate, 94 percent of WIC customers agreed.
Next: How cities are expanding food access during the pandemic and beyond