This project builds on the results of the 2022 Cuyahoga County Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA). Increasing access to healthier foods is a top priority based on the 2022 CHNA. Similar results were found in the 2022 Buckeye, Central and Kinsman Neighborhood CHNA conducted by the Swetland Center in three areas within our target geography. This CHNA found 70% of the respondents endorsed making fresh and healthy foods more available, the #1 strategy to improve community health.
Disparities in diabetes rates are more pronounced in areas prioritized for our nutrition strategy (three neighborhoods completing the CHNA), where 23% of the respondents reported a diabetes diagnosis compared to national trends of 9%. These findings reinforce the need for investing in community-wide strategies to promote access to healthy foods. A significant number of census tracts in the City of Cleveland and areas of the County have high need for healthy food access based on the food insecurity index that accounts for multiple factors associated with food insecurity (Figure 1). There is growing evidence that food insecurity and lack of healthy food access are some of the most powerful social drivers of population health trends contributing to racial and ethnic disparities in diet-related chronic diseases.
As a partnership, we understand that to transform these diet-related health inequities, we must address the root causes of food insecurity, including barriers like high food costs and food apartheid in the targeted neighborhoods. We plan to implement strategies that increase the reach of Cleveland’s fruit and vegetable voucher program (i.e. Produce Perks) that matches SNAP benefits for fruit and vegetable purchasing. Additionally, we are leveraging our extensive healthcare infrastructure to increase implementation of produce prescription programs that link clinical care with access to foods needed for health promotion. These approaches will be unified within the Nutrition Equity Committee of HIP-Cuyahoga/REACH (co-convened by CCBH and Swetland Center), which will serve as the nutrition strategy lead group and convener to guide development, implementation, and dissemination of our nutrition strategy.
The Swetland Center’s REACH project consists of six key activities:
- Fellowship
- Food System Landscape Assessment
- Nutrition Equity Committee (Produce Prescription Working Group)
- Produce Path
- Stakeholder Interviews
- Workshops & Technical Assistance
The overall goals of this project are to:
- Increase the number of people in priority populations (Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino/a/e) in prioritized areas of Cuyahoga County using fruit and vegetable incentives and produce prescriptions
- Increase the number of clinical sites prescribing produce
- Ensure local produce prescription programs are culturally tailored for Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino/a/e patients
- Ensure local produce prescription programs are sourcing as much of their food as possible from local Black and Hispanic/Latino/a/e farmers and food product makers
Learn more about our REACH project here.
Questions? Contact us at reach@case.edu.
The REACH project is funded by a grant (#6 NU58DP007747-01-01) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, through the Cuyahoga County Board of Health. Our partners on the project are Better Health Partnership, Catalytic Change Link, Cleveland Fresh LLC, and Produce Perks Midwest. This project is funded from December 30, 2023 to September 29, 2028.