Understanding Our Food Environments

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Understanding Our Food Environments

• Forward Food Summit
• April 18th, 2015

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Agenda

• Introductions!
• Terms definitions
• What do we (think we) know about food
  environments?  
• Resources for data mapping
• What can this actually look like in practice 
• Wrap-up

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Introductions

• Who is in the room? How do you engage in this
  topic
• From living breathing food environments.to
  never heard of the term food desert
• From data geek..to storytelling advocate
• Who we are!
• Wendy Peters Moschetti, WPM Consulting,
  wendy_at_wpmconsulting.net
• Mya Bea, Liberation Sequence Gardens,
  mya.b.living_at_gmail.com

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Why Do We Do this?

• To advance equity and justice we need to be
  well-informed
• We all have assumptions that need to be checked
• Funders love this stuff!
• Baseline information helps tracks changes!

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Definition of Terms

• Healthy Food Access
• All Coloradans can readily obtain and consume
  safe, culturally- and age- appropriate,
  nutritious food every day to achieve optimal
  health.
• Federal Food Nutrition Assistance
• Includes Child Nutrition Programs SNAP WIC
• Community Food Assistance
• Non-profit programs such as food banks, pantries,
  meal sites
• Food Swamp
• Areas with an abundance of less healthy food
  options
• Food Desert
• Areas that lack easy access to fresh, healthy,
  affordable foods (low-income AND low-access)

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Definition of Terms, Contd

• Food Security
• High food security no reported indications of
  food-access problems or limitations.
• Marginal food security one or two reported
  indicationstypically of anxiety over food
  sufficiency or shortage of food in the house.
  Little or no indication of changes in diets or
  food intake.
• Food Insecurity
• Low food security reports of reduced quality,
  variety, or desirability of diet. Little or no
  indication of reduced food intake.
• Very low food security Reports of multiple
  indications of disrupted eating patterns and
  reduced food intake.

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Food Environments What We Know Dont Know
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The Evidence Base

• Complex and complicated
• If you build itthey may or may not come
• Strong cultural and socioeconomic influences
• Local food environments do impact health
• Access to Healthy Food and Why It Matters A
  Review of the Research www.policylink.org/find-res
  ources/library/access-to-healthy-food-and-why-it-m
  atters
• HFA is a challenge, particularly those living in
  low-income neighborhoods, communities of color,
  and rural areas.
• Living closer to healthy food retail is among the
  factors associated with better eating habits and
  decreased risk for obesity and diet-related
  diseases.
• Healthy food retail stimulates economic activity.
  

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Evidence Base, Contd

• Food System Policies and Population Health
  Moving Toward Collective Impact in Denver
• www.denvergov.org/behealthydenver/BeHealthyDenver/
  tabid/443344/Default.aspx
• 24 national organizations most frequently
  recommended the following as best practices to
  address food insecurity and/or childhood obesity
  (lower BMI, increase FV, increase food access)
• Healthy Food Retail (e.g., grocery and corner
  stores, farmers markets, food cooperatives)
• Federal Food and Nutrition Service Programs
  (e.g., food stamps, free and reduced school
  lunch, senior nutrition)
• Agriculture (e.g., home and community gardens,
  farms, aquaponics)
• Institutional Procurement Vending Contracts
  (e.g., healthy food and beverages standards in
  public venues)
• Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (a consideration in 3
  of the 4 domains above e.g., soda, flavored
  milk)

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Our Gut

• What about your food environment most influences
  community health?
• Is access to affordable, healthy food a challenge
  for some in your community?
• For whom?
• Where?

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Data Resources
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Data Mapping Tools

• LiveWell CO Food Systems Toolbox,
  www.livewellcolorado.org/foodsystems
• Community Commons
• www.communitycommons.org
• USDA Capacity Builder
• www.fns.usda.gov/capacitybuilder
• CDPHE DATA
• www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/data
• CO EBNE Data
• http//dola.colorado.gov/gis-cms/sites/dola.colora
  do.gov.gis-cms/files/projects/snap/snapv3.html
• USDA Food Access Research Atlas,http//www.ers.usd
  a.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas.asp
  x

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Data Mapping Tools

• Mile High Connects Denver Regional Equity Maps
• www.denverregionalequityatlas.org
• Research Your Community (Healthy Food Access)
• www.healthyfoodaccess.org/get-started/research-you
  r-community
• Feeding America Map the Meal Gap
• www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/our-resea
  rch/map-the-meal-gap/
• Food Research Action Center
• www.frac.org/reports-and-resources/national-and-st
  ate-program-data-2/
• Colorado Market Maker
• co.foodmarketmaker.com
• National Agricultural Statistics Service
• www.nass.usda.gov

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USDA Capacity Builder Summer Meals FRL
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Tools that combine secondary data with community
storytelling! www.communitycommons.org
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What Can Local Action Do?
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Promote healthy food environments

• year-round food production infrastructure
• backyard livestock
• residential sales of garden produce
• urban agriculture in all zones
• procurement standards for public facilities
• healthy retail incentives and tax credits
• space for farmers markets
• SNAP participation
• SNAP at farmers markets
• public institution nutrition campaigns
• streamlined permitting process for retailers or
  vendors
• maximum prices on healthy foods
• Align transit with food access
• Subsidize transit
• farm-to-school programs

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Restrict unhealthy food environments

• Regulate fast food through density or
  restrictions on drive-throughs
• Set minimum stocking requirements for healthy
  foods in corner stores
• Require menu labeling
• Set minimum prices for unhealthy foods
• Impose taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages
• Restrict toys or give-aways with kids meals
• Restrict junk food marketing around schools and
  other public institutions

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Policy Resources
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Local Policy Tools Models

• LiveWell Colorado HEAL Library
• www.livewellcolorado.org/healthy-policy/heal-polic
  y/heal-library/
• Growing Food Connections Policy Database
• www.growingfoodconnections.org/tools-resources/pol
  icy-database/
• Healthy Food in Your Community A Toolkit for
  Policy Change
• www.ucsusa.org/foodtoolkit
• ChangeLab Solutions Creating Healthier Food
  Environments Tools
• www.changelabsolutions.org/landing-page/creating-h
  ealthier-food-environments
• Johns Hopkins Local Food Policy Database
• www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/john
  s-hopkins-center-for-a-livable-future/projects/FPN
  /legislation/local.html

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What Does This Actually Look Like?