Generating Health through Food and Nutrition Sovereignty and Security
All across the world, life expectancy differences exist among populations within a few miles simply because the network of resources and environment are not rooted in the conditions needed for health. The census tract of Lackey, VA in York County has a life expectancy of 75.5 years. Five miles down the road, it is 83 years – a difference of almost eight years.
What contributes to such a difference? Food apartheid takes into account racism, income, ableism, geography, and other factors when looking at ways to end inequity and discrimination in local food systems and environments. It recognizes that the systems in place are what make it difficult for people living in low-income areas to access fresh, healthy food and experience less chronic disease and conditions.
Past and present political and social influences determine food access and control by design and default. Food desert has been a term used for many years, but this is problematic. “Public policy and economic practices have created these areas that have low access to foods” – Malik Yakini.
Contact
Leslie Hoglund, PhD, MEd, MCHES®, Clinical Assistant Professor in Public Health, School of Community & Environmental Health, College of Health Sciences, Old Dominion University
Culture of Health Leader (Cohort 5), Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
I’m available for new projects: community health assessment, community health improvement planning, program evaluation, strategic planning, etc. Drop me a line, and let’s improve the world!
GENERATE MORE HEALTH 