Summary of the Grantmakers in Health issue brief discussing the intersection of food and health, which focuses on food insecurity, access to healthy food, community food security, and health.
New York City’s Green Cart initiative has increased access to healthy food in otherwise underserved high-density and low-income neighborhoods, influenced customers’ consumption of fruits and vegetables, and created jobs for immigrant entrepreneurs, according to researchers at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). The researchers suggest the program can and should be replicated in urban areas across the country.
Common Market is a regional food hub whose mission is to increase the availability of local, sustainably grown farm food throughout Philadelphia and surrounding areas. This case study provides an in-depth look at Common Market's growth and development, including efforts to build financial sustainability.
Too many residents of bi-state Kansas City lack sufficient access to healthy, affordable food. Despite being in the heart of one of the richest agricultural regions in the nation, bi-state Kansas City is home to many communities without supermarkets, grocery stores and other retailers of healthy food. Limited access to nutritious food is an issue in specific neighborhoods, such as Douglas Sumner in Kansas City, Kansas, and Ivanhoe and Marlborough in Kansas City, Missouri. To address these concerns, the Kansas City Grocery Access Task Force was convened by KC Healthy Kids, IFF and The Food Trust. The task force is a cohort of leaders from the grocery industry, state and local governments, as well as the community and economic development, public health and civic sectors. The task force developed nine recommendations for state and local public policies that will improve the availability of healthy, affordable food in underserved areas through the development of supermarkets and grocery stores.
New research in a joint report by PolicyLink and The Food Trust, Access to Healthy Food and Why It Matters: A Review of the Research, underscores healthy food access as the foundation necessary for reaping the positive benefits associated with healthy food. The research reveals that improving healthy food access in low-income communities and communities of color continues to be an urgent need with nearly 30 million people living in low-income areas with limited access to supermarkets. The webinar features report authors along with a local government official. Speakers discuss how findings from the new report can be used to expand healthy food access in communities across the country.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program. In 2013, it helped more than 47 million low-income Americans to afford a nutritionally adequate diet in a typical month. Seventy percent of SNAP participants are in families with children; more than one-quarter of participants are in households with seniors or people with disabilities.
This chart book highlights some key characteristics of the more than 47 million people using the program as well as trends and data on program administration and use.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program, reaching nearly 47 million people nationwide in 2013 alone. These fact sheets provide state-by-state data on who participates in the SNAP program, the benefits they receive, and SNAP’s role in strengthening the economy.