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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Food security and nutrition

The Impact of Food Sufficiency on the Health Status: The Case of Households in the North Central Region
Examines how availability of food is correlated with health status. Analyzes North Central Region (NCR)-Stat: Baseline Survey 2022 data and includes breakdowns according to self-reported health status, food access, and demographics, including location.
Author(s): Antara Chowdhury
Date: 07/2024
Sponsoring organization: North Central Regional Center for Rural Development
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Summer Food for Children: An Overview of Federal Aid
Provides an overview of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). Highlights changes to the SFSP made in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, including the permanent authorization of the nationwide Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (Summer EBT) Program for Children, and allowing Seamless Summer Option (SSO) sponsors to provide meals for off-site consumption to children in rural areas without access to congregate meal sites.
Date: 07/2024
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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2024 National Rural Grocery Summit Program
Provides the agenda, speaker presentation slides, and poster presentations from the 2024 National Rural Grocery Summit. Focuses on issues such as rural grocery best practices, local food access, community partnerships, funding and sustainability, and more.
Date: 06/2024
Sponsoring organization: Rural Grocery Initiative
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Community-Driven Strategies to Address Persistent Poverty in Rural Areas
Webinar recording discussing persistent poverty and structural barriers to increasing wealth. Discusses the work of community development finance institutions. Highlights successful program examples including indigenous food systems in Maine, home ownership in the Mississippi Delta and colonias along the U.S.-Mexico Border, and using community engagement to impact systems and policy in Kansas. Transcript available in the video description.
Date: 06/2024
Sponsoring organization: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps
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An Examination of Emergency Food Supply and Distribution in Rural Pennsylvania
Examines the strengths and challenges faced by the Pennsylvania emergency food network in meeting the needs of residents, especially those in rural areas. Uses survey, interview, and observational data from a sample of 22 food banks, 35 partner agencies, and 65 residents served by the partner agencies.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Kristina Brant, Justine Lindemann, Hazel Velasco Palacios, Nicholas Demerly, Jihyun Shin
Date: 06/2024
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Pennsylvania
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USDA Summer Food Program with Administrator for the Food and Nutrition Service, Cindy Long
Podcast episode featuring Cindy Long, Administrator for the the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). Discusses how the USDA FNS helps parents and caregivers raising families in rural and remote areas navigate nutrition assistance programs when school is out of session in the summer. Describes Summer Food Program eligibility and how to access program benefits.
Date: 06/2024
Sponsoring organization: Impact! Communications, Inc.
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A Sentiment and Keyword Analysis of College Food Pantry Stigma Among Users and Nonusers
Analyzes food pantry stigma among college students at a rural Appalachian university. Examines responses from an online survey that provides information on student food insecurity, demographic information, stigma associated with food pantry use, and more.
Author(s): Alisa T. Duong, Ayron E. Walker, Amanda R. Bossert, Matthew E. Arnold
Citation: Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 13(3), 152-164
Date: 06/2024
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Characteristics of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Households: Fiscal Year 2022
Presents an overview of the SNAP Program eligibility requirements and benefit levels. Provides detailed tables showing comparisons in rural-urban areas. Coverage includes October 2021 through September 2022.
Additional links: Research Summary
Author(s): Mia Monkovic
Date: 06/2024
Sponsoring organization: USDA Food and Nutrition Service
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Nutrition Environment Gaps and Distribution Challenges in Rural Food Pantries During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed-Methods Study
Discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food pantries in rural areas. Analyzes survey data from 19 food pantry representatives working in California's San Joaquin Valley between August 2020 and June 2021. Examines the consumer nutrition environment in rural food pantries utilizing the Nutrition Environment Food Pantry Assessment Tool (NEFPAT).
Author(s): Kimberly D. Sánchez, Karina Díaz Rios, Denise D. Payán
Citation: Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 124(6), 713-724.E4
Date: 06/2024
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Can the American Community Survey Provide New Insight into Household Food Security? An Illustration of Cross-Survey Multiple Imputation
Examines how a cross-survey multiple imputation methodology with American Community Survey data can provide detailed food security information on smaller demographic groups and substate geographies. Compares the 2017–2019 American Community Survey and 2016–2019 Current Population Survey utilizing this methodology and discusses the importance of precision with small sample sizes.
Author(s): Judith Bartfeld, Madeline Reed-Jones
Citation: Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 46(4), 1627-1645
Date: 05/2024
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