DGAP

Diet, Geography, Access

and Plannning

Amanda Behrens, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Baltimore MD

Joanne Burke, Nutrition Program, Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham NH

Jennifer Wilkins, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell Univ. Ithaca, NY

12-13, 2010

Our Participatory Workshop Plan

• Introductions and Inventory

- Current DGAP initiatives/interests

• Brief background on diet, geography, access & planning/policy

• Planning and Research - What do we need to consider in the design of a regional

food system that addresses DGAP.

-What are the DGAP vision, goals and objectives

-Designing future strategies

12-13, 2010

Inventory

Why Food and Diet Matters ?

Major driver of Public Health, Social and Environmental Well Being

Income Matters:

In the United StatesAmericans’ diets, particularly those of low-income households,

Fall short of government recommendations in the quantity of fruits and vegetables consumed.

UNH Voices in the Field: Designed to capture the challenge of those directly experiencing food insecurity

Poverty Matters: In the United States in 2009

• Nearly 43.6 million Americans or 14.3 % in poverty

25.8 % of blacks 25.3 % of Hispanics were poor, 12.5 % of Asians 9.4 % of non-Hispanic whites and

• In 2009, households experiencing poverty 30 % headed by single women17 % headed by single men

6 % headed by married-couples

/November 2010 Poverty level family of four=

Food Insecurity Matters: % Increase in SNAP Participation from 2005 to 2009

USDA SNSP Data, accessed November 2010

Photo: Sergey Kashkin, Health Foods, Healthy Families 2007 Bread for the World Institute

Health Matters: Escalating Obesity Rates

Obesity Trends* Among U.S. AdultsBRFSS, 1989

(*BMI ≥30, or ~ 30 lbs. overweight for 5’ 4” person)

No Data <10% 10%–14%

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

2009 Obesity Trends Among U.S. Adults

Social Justice Matters:

Recommends that the USDA, universities and state agricultural agencies, increase research and development for proven approaches to boost crop yields.

Approaches include

• Modern conventional plant breeding methods

• Sustainable farming

• Organic Farming

• Other sophisticated farming practices that do not require farmers to pay significant up

front costs.

http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/science/failure-to-yield.html

Planning, Innovation and Research Matters

Access Matters

• In the United States, 2.3 million households, or 2.2 percent, live

more than a mile from a supermarket and

don’t have access to a vehicle.

• An additional 3.4 million households, or (3.2 percent) live between one-half to 1 mile and do not have access to a vehicle.