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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.

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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The Impact of the Coronavirus on Local Food Insecurity
Investigates the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on food insecurity in the United States by examining county- and state-level data on changes in food insecurity from 2018-2020. Highlights information from counties in rural areas.
Date: 05/2020
Sponsoring organization: Feeding America
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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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Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food
Summarizes presentations and discussions from an August 7-8, 2019 workshop held in Washington, D.C. Reviews the status of current and emerging knowledge concerning innovations for modern food systems and strategies for meeting future needs. Addresses different perspectives on food systems and includes a presentation on food system linkages to rural economic development.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Food and Nutrition Board
Date: 2020
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Rural Hunger in America: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Describes ways in which the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits rural Americans and offers suggestions to help rural communities overcome barriers to implementing SNAP. Includes a county-level map showing levels of SNAP participation in rural counties from 2012-2016.
Date: 2018
Sponsoring organization: Food Research & Action Center
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Rural Households Account for Nearly One-fifth of U.S. Food-Insecure Households
Pie chart showing the proportion of food insecure households in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas in 2016.
Date: 12/2017
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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The Differences in Characteristics Among Households With and Without Obese Children: Findings From USDA's FoodAPS
Examines characteristics of households with at least one obese child and without any obese children. Table 2 compares rural and urban household financial well-being, as it relates to obesity. Table 3 examines the food environment for rural households with and without obese children.
Author(s): Young Jo
Date: 09/2017
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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Last Updated: 9/18/2025