Decreasing Food Insecurity Among Young Women in Robeson County, NC

This paper represents a formal proposal to The Kate B. Reynolds Healthcare Trust which requests support for an Accountable Care Community (ACC) targeted at addressing an upstream Social Determinant of Health (SDoH). This specific proposal aims to create an ACC in Robeson County, North Carolina to address the area’s growing issue of female food insecurity. Feeding America defines food insecurity as a “lack of access to substantial food in order to live an active and healthy lifestyle” (Feeding America, n.d.). Food insecurity represents a complex SDoH as its root causes differ across communities. However, many studies have shown the linkage between food insecurity and later-in-life negative health outcomes including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease (Feeding America, n.d.; Ogden, 2017). The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) measures food insecurity by a series of eighteen survey questions and statements filled out by 45,000 households in the Food Security Supplement of the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS-FSS) (Gundersen, 2015). As a result, almost fifty million people are food insecure in the United States (Gundersen, 2015). This makes food insecurity one of the nation’s leading health and nutrition issues (Gundersen, 2015). North Carolina is the 10th hungriest state in the nation (Food Shuttle, 2020). Over a third of the population in Robeson County struggle to make enough to live and 33% of residents in the county are considered in poverty (Willets, 2016). Therefore, our proposed ACC will aim to accomplish a 20% decrease in the prevalence of food insecurity among our target population (women in Robeson County aged 23-34) over a five-year period. Such achievements will occur through 1) ongoing engagement and partnership with key stakeholders for at least a 5 years period; 2) expansion or adaptation of EBT, WIC, and/or DSS (SNAP), through assistance from the Health Department Director, in at least two Local Grocery Store Chains (LGSC’s) over a 5-year period; 3) establish equitable pricing based on median income in at least one LGSC location over a 5-year period. Keywords: food insecurity; poverty; social determinants of health; accountable care community; Robeson County; North Carolina; women; low income women; health outcomes; community partnershipsMaster of Public Healt