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Rural Hunger and Access to Healthy Food – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Rural Hunger and Access to Healthy Food.

Rural Non-Congregate Summer Meal Programs: Understanding the Caregiver Experience
A recorded webinar that discusses participant feedback from 3 non-congregate summer meal programs that used various meal distribution models: grab-and-go, mobile meals, and delivery. Provides findings and recommendations from participant feedback and program site visits. Transcript available below description.
Additional links: Overview, Report
Date: 05/2024
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: No Kid Hungry
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Traditional Food Security and Food Sovereignty in the Coastal Region of South-Central Alaska
Features a study on traditional food security and sovereignty for the Alutiiq and Eyak peoples of the Chugach Region of Alaska. Breaks down results by community food resources, diet and health, culture, organization and governance, food resources, and natural resources and environment. Makes recommendation on overcoming barriers and improving food systems.
Author(s): Joseph Nyholm, Amanda Walch, Leslie Redmond
Citation: International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 83(1), 2359161
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
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Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Assessment and Tailoring Study (WIC NATS)
Provides an overview of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and how local WIC agencies and clinic sites assess their breastfeeding and nutrition services to improve participant retention and service delivery. Includes two reports: a pre-pandemic nutrition assessment report at the state and local levels and a remote versus in-person report focused on assessment processes. Includes data from state agencies as well as 369 local WIC agencies, with differences between rural versus urban agencies discussed.
Additional links: Final Report Part 1, Final Report Part 2, Summary
Author(s): M. Gabay, A.A. Gola, M. Gearing, et al.
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: USDA Food and Nutrition Service
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Map the Meal Gap 2024: A Report on County and Congressional District Food Insecurity and County Food Cost in the United States in 2022
Provides information on food insecurity in the United States, focusing on how race and ethnicity impact access to food. Includes county-level U.S. maps that show food insecurity for children and the overall U.S. population. Includes regional data on counties with high food insecurity as well as by rural versus urban status.
Additional links: Technical Appendix
Author(s): M. Hake, A. Dewey, E. Engelhard, S. Dawes
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Feeding America
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Addressing Food Insecurity in Rural Primary Care: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of Barriers and Facilitators
Examines food insecurity (FI) in rural areas and the barriers and facilitators to identifying FI during primary care visits. Provides interview feedback from rural New England primary care practitioners, focused on factors that impact screening for FI and potential interventions to address patient FI. Discusses difficulty of addressing FI in rural geographies, stigma in rural communities, and food resource options from local farms.
Author(s): Kayla E. Jordanova, Arvind Suresh, Chelsey R. Canavan, et al.
Citation: BMC Primary Care, 25, 163
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
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Unlocking Access: Implementing Home Delivered Meals to Expand Summer Meal Access for Rural Families
A recorded webinar that discusses utilizing home delivery to provide food access to families during the summer months. Includes examples from organizations who successfully implemented a food home delivery strategy. Transcript available below description.
Additional links: Slide Deck
Author(s): Allison Dela Cuesta, Kristen Collins, Madeline Ghanem, Donna Riviello
Date: 04/2024
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: No Kid Hungry
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An Evaluation of ¡Haz Espacio Para Papi!, a Culturally Tailored Nutrition and Physical Activity Pilot Program for Mexican-Heritage Fathers
Describes outcomes of ¡Haz Espacio Para Papi! (HEPP), a nutrition and physical activity intervention for Latino fathers in colonias near the Texas-Mexico border. Provides data on changes in participants' fruit and vegetable intake, skin carotenoids, and healthy dietary behaviors. Discusses approaches to cultural appropriateness and collaboration with promotoras.
Author(s): Annika Vahk, Pablo Monsivais, Cassandra M. Johnson, Joseph R. Sharkey
Citation: Nutrients, 16(8), 1153
Date: 04/2024
Type: Document
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Child Nutrition Program Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic, July 2020 through December 2021 School Meals Operations Study, Year 2 Report (Final)
Describes trends in Child Nutrition (CN) Program program participation during the COVID-19 pandemic, from July 2020 through December 2021. Builds on a previous report that presents data on the number of meals served, operational and financial challenges of state agencies and local program operators, and the use of COVID-19 Child Nutrition nationwide waivers.
Additional links: Report Summary
Author(s): Liana Washburn, Veronica Severn, Brett Eiffes, et al.
Date: 04/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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Breakfast Tips & Strategies for Fueling Success in Rural Districts
A recorded webinar featuring school nutrition staff who have implemented breakfast programs in rural school districts. Discusses strategies for implementation and overcoming challenges. Transcript available below description.
Additional links: Slide Deck
Author(s): Kelly Earnhardt, Nikki Hawthorne, Heidi Miles
Date: 04/2024
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: No Kid Hungry
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Household Food Insecurity Across Race and Ethnicity in the United States, 2016–21
Provides sociodemographic data on household food insecurity in the United States from 2016 to 2021. Includes data breakdowns according to race/ethnicity, household composition, poverty, employment status, education level, geographic region, metro versus nonmetro location, and more.
Author(s): Laura J. Hales, Alisha Coleman-Jensen
Date: 04/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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Additional resources are available related to this guide. See the full list of resources by topic for:


Last Updated: 6/28/2024