Boulevard Food Co-OpBy Chelsea Cobb

Background

Food Insecurity 185,330 individuals reported food insecure in Fulton County in 2014.

Household Spending Trade-Offs In The Past YearHad to choose between food and…● Utilities: 69%● Transportation: 67%● Medical care: 66%● Housing: 57%● Education: 31%

Household Coping Strategies In The Past Year55% of households reported using 3 or more coping strategies

in the past year

Purchase inexpensive, unhealthy food: 79%

Eat food past the expiration date: 56%

Receive help from family or friends: 53%

Water down food or drinks: 40%

Sell or pawn personal property: 35%

Grow food in a garden: 23%

How did I work with the Boulevard Food Co-Op to bring access of healthy foods to members of the North Boulevard Corridor?

Introduction

1. Launched: November 2014

2. Members: 15

3. Bedford Pines Apartments and Cosby Spear community members only

4. Cost: $3 every two weeks for about 40 pounds of food

5. Partners: Atlanta Community Food Bank, Truly Living Well, and Cooking Matters

6. Created to reduce hunger among people living at or below the poverty line and to promote food security, individual dignity, civic participation, and accountability.

Baseline Survey

Distribution Week

1. Place an order at the Atlanta Community Food Bank with a $50 budget.

2. Go to Truly Living Well to pick up fresh produce that had been grown.

3. Pick up items at Atlanta Community Food Bank.

4. Shop on the floor at the Atlanta Community Food Bank.

5. Set up for distribution.

Recipe Cards

Community Garden Day

Every Wednesday

Co-Op members come out to Truly Living Well to grow their own foods.

First Harvest: July 15

Cooking Matters

● Cooking demonstrations● Shopping trips

Results

11 members remained in the program at the 6-month follow up period.

Reasons for drop out:

1.Death n=1

2.New employment: n=1

3.Change in residency: n=2

Head of households were interviewed.

Data collection took place during the summer of 2015.Mixed method data collection

Member Quotes “The mulberries- I finally got the kids to eat those. It was one of those things where one said let me have some and then they all ate them. I feel good about.”

“Going to the grocery store you tend to buy what you grew up eating. This way you find yourself trying to find recipes so you can at least say I have tried it. It has changed our choices at the grocery store we try to be more adventurous when we go shopping at the grocery store now.”

“There are some vegetables I have never had, I don’t like kale but now I mix it with other vegetables also I learned that those white radish things you can season food with that i didn’t know what it was at first so I cut it up and put in my green and it tasted good, I have never seen white radishes”

“It takes up the slack when my little food stamps run out. And I have food to eat until the next time I get my stamps.”

Areas Of ImprovementLenghty meeting times

Increase participation of families

Incorporate member dietary preferences (lactose intolerant)

Space

Additional Protein

Discussion

Works CitedBickel, G., Nord, M., Price, C., Hamilton, W., & Cook, J. (2000). Guide to measuring

household food security, revised 2000. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service: Alexandria VA.

Casey, P. H., Simpson, P. M., Gossett, J. M., Bogle, M. L., Champagne, C. M., Connell, C. & ... Weber, J. (2006). The association of child and household food insecurity with childhood overweight status. Pediatrics, 118(5), 1406-1413.

Dutko P, Ver Ploeg M, Farrigan T. Characteristics and Influential Factors of Food Deserts. United States Department of Agriculture: Economic Research Service; 2012.

Gundersen, C., A. Satoh, A. Dewey, M. Kato & E. Engelhard. Map the Meal Gap 2015: Food Insecurity and Child Food Insecurity Estimates at the County Level. Feeding America, 2015.

Hunger in America 2014 Executive Summary. (2014). http://help.feedingamerica.org/HungerInAmerica/hunger-in-america-2014-summary.pdf

Kleinman, Murphy, Little, Pagano, Wehler, Regal, and Jellinek (1998) Hunger in children in the United States: Potential behavioral and emotional correlates. Pediatrics, 101 (1), e3

Questions?