Make Healthy Food Affordable
This is Part 1 of the Food Insecurity series focusing on greater access to nutritious food. Part 2 is on relevant food systems, and Part 3 covers food distribution chains.
Empower local communities to take back control of their nutrition from corporate food monopolies.
Problem
The quality of a person’s diet is almost exclusively reliant on their income. Low-income Americans are twice as likely to have unhealthy diets than people at the highest levels of income.
Solution
Facilitate greater access to nutritious food by supporting local food production and affordable produce, while simultaneously reducing unnecessary waste.
Affordable Produce
Incentivize those who grow produce at home to receive tax credits.
Partner with public and private healthcare systems to roll out Veggie Rx, which connects patients to affordable produce through prescription programs.
Tap into Community Gardens
Collect food production data on community gardens and share strategies for community garden improvement.
Promote community garden grants when they are available.
Allot centralized composting services at each neighborhood community garden.
Develop a larger market for local farms and community gardens to supply their produce to corporate food providers operating in public institutions.
Incentivize school boards to source nutrient-dense diets for students on free or reduced-price lunches via local channels.
This Matters
Healthy food leads to a healthy life. We have to bring affordable, healthy food back into our neighborhoods to reduce the high prevalence of obesity and diabetes among low-income and minority populations.
To tackle poor nutrition and inequitable distribution channels, we need to increase access to healthy food, reinforce local food production and bridge the diet gap.