Food Desert Storm: A Community-Based Approach to Improve Health Outcomes in Food Deserts

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2016

Food Desert Storm is a program created by the Guilford County Department of Health and Human Services and the City of Greensboro’s Parks and Recreation Department to help alleviate poor health outcomes in food desert census tracts in Guilford County in North Carolina. Piloted in the fall of 2015, the twelve-week program provided residents in a food desert with increased access to knowledge and resources regarding healthy living habits. The program was comprised of six Saturday events. During each event, residents participated in healthy eating/exercise classes, took healthy shopping trips to a supermarket, and were given healthy educational handouts/recipes to take home. The program was measured by fitness assessments that were conducted at the beginning and end of the program. Results of the first year of the program showed that almost half of the participants had experienced an improvement in their overall fitness level. Based on the project’s results in 2015, the county plans to expand it in its current location and to other food deserts in 2016.