Expanding Access to Fresh Food is Vital to a Healthy Mississippi

July 20th, 2011

In far too many communities in Mississippi, residents lack access to fresh food. One way to measure access includes Food Insecurity. Food insecurity is defined as a lack of access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. Mississippi and Arkansas are two states with some of the highest levels of food insecurity in the country.

Related to food insecurity, the Mid South states have some of the lowest rates of fruit consumption and some of the highest rates of childhood obesity. The table below provides a regional snapshot of childhood obesity.

Click to enlarge

Through Let’s Move, First Lady Michelle Obama is pursuing a strategy to end childhood obesity within a generation. One of the primary components of the strategy includes making sure that more groceries and markets are accessible for community members to purchase healthy food.

Today, Bill Bynum, CEO of Hope Enterprise Corporation (HOPE) – the sponsor of the Mississippi Economic Policy Center – attended a press conference hosted by the First Lady on the progress that has been made through Let’s Move to secure commitments by retailers to move into communities that lack access to a retail outlet that sells fresh food.

Throughout the Mid South, HOPE has been actively working with a range of nonprofit, private and public sector partners to create jobs and expand access to fresh food by enhancing access to capital for retailers working in low-income areas. To learn more about the Fresh Food Retailer Initiative and how HOPE is working to expand access, click here.

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