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Rural Hunger and Access to Healthy Food – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Rural Hunger and Access to Healthy Food.

Super Stores' Impact on the Availability of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Approved Stores
Examines the effect of new super stores on the survival of existing traditional stores and the cost savings accruing to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) beneficiaries. Features statistics including SNAP redemptions and share of redemptions by store type from 1992–2017, and impact of super store entry on the number of SNAP-approved stores with breakdowns by urban and rural areas.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Michael Ollinger, Michele Ver Ploeg, Chris Dicken
Date: 06/2021
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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Hunger and the Local Economy: Integrated State-Level Approaches to Food Access
Describes food insecurity challenges in rural America. Explores state policy options to improve food access such as food bucks, food procurement reforms, farm to school programs, cooperative development tax incentives, farmers markets, establishing food hubs, and supporting small grocers. Offers policy recommendations to increase access to healthy food and address food insecurity in rural communities.
Author(s): Nathan Beacom
Date: 04/2021
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Affairs
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A Randomized Controlled Trial Measuring Effects of Extra Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Benefits on Child Food Security in Low-Income Families in Rural Kentucky
Results of a study to determine whether the Ticket to Healthy Food (TTHF) program would reduce child food insecurity among rural, low-income Kentucky households. Features statistics on 1,623 TTHF households, including demographics and food security status before and after the intervention.
Author(s): Gregory J. Chojnacki, Andrew G. Gothro, Philip M. Gleason, Sarah G. Forrestal
Citation: Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 121(1), Supplement, S9-S21
Date: 01/2021
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A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial of a Home-Delivered Food Box on Food Security in Chickasaw Nation
Presents a study evaluating a free school meal program in 12 rural Oklahoma counties within the Chickasaw Nation from 2016 to 2018. Breaks down data by household income, children in household, and age of children, among other measures.
Author(s): Ronette R. Briefel, Gregory J. Chojnacki, Vivian Gabor, et al.
Citation: Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 121(1), S46-S58
Date: 01/2021
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Lakewood Engage Tackles Food Insecurity in Rural Minnesota
Features a community-based program in rural Minnesota that addresses food insecurity through multiple initiatives, including distribution of fresh produce through a food "prescription" program, home delivery of meals to post-acute care patients and those in COVID-19 quarantine, and a farmers market.
Author(s): Kathryn Rutz
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 12/2020
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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The Complexities of Selling Fruits and Vegetables in Remote Navajo Nation Retail Outlets: Perspectives from Owners and Managers of Small Stores
Highlights an examination of access to fruit and vegetables in small rural stores across the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. Details a survey of several small stores scattered throughout the Navajo Nation and discusses the food options in these rural stores.
Author(s): Emily M. Piltch, Sonya S. Shin, Robert F. Houser, Timothy Griffin
Citation: Public Health Nutrition, 23(9), 1638-1646
Date: 06/2020
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Rapid Health Impact Assessment on USDA Proposed Changes to School Nutrition Standards
Highlights a study on the health implications of proposed changes to the United States Department of Agriculture's nutrition guidelines for school lunches. Compares changes to current guidelines and highlights the impact the changes would have for students of color and students in rural communities.
Date: 03/2020
Sponsoring organizations: Healthy Eating Research, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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Measurement of Nutrition Environments in Grocery Stores, Convenience Stores, and Restaurants in the Lower Mississippi Delta
Reports on the Delta Food Outlets Study, evaluating the local nutrition environments of pregnant woman and their infants living in rural Lower Mississippi Delta to assess environmental exposures influencing their dietary habits. Study participants had previously participated in a nutrition and physical activity intervention, the Delta Health Sprouts Project.
Author(s): Jessica L. Thomson, Melissa H. Goodman, Alicia S. Landry
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 17
Date: 03/2020
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Child Hunger In Rural America
Discusses food insecurity impacts on children in rural America, with a focus on geographic isolation, lack of opportunities, limited resources, and programmatic barriers. Includes metro versus nonmetro comparisons of percent of households experiencing food insecurity.
Date: 02/2020
Sponsoring organizations: Feeding America, No Kid Hungry
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Examining Food Insecurity in the Rural United States: A Qualitative Study
Explores the difficulties families experience when trying to provide nutritious food to children, as well as related issues of food insecurity in 6 rural counties of the U.S. Discusses perceptions of food benefits, family circumstances, and participant suggestions to improve food access.
Author(s): Lindsey Haynes-Maslow, Lauri Andress, Carmen Byker-Shanks, et al.
Date: 02/2020
Sponsoring organizations: Feeding America, No Kid Hungry
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