Join the Hoosier Health and Wellness Alliance (HHWA) on September 21, 2022 from 9am-noon EST for a virtual discussion on the challenges and successes communities across Indiana have faced when addressing food access. Explore how nutrition is impacted by health inequities and structural racism, while learning the intricacies of food systems and how you can take next steps toward food resilience in your own community.
Food insecurity is a lack of consistent access, such as financial resources, to acquire enough food for an active, healthy life. Food insecurity can cause difficulty managing chronic health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and mood disorders. It can also cause malnutrition (excess or deficiency of nutrients in the diet), poor mental health, disordered eating, and obesity. Feeding America states that: “Food insecurity is experienced in greater proportion by these racial and ethnic groups due to a number of factors – a key one being structural racism and discrimination.” Food equity is the fight against food injustice and insecurity.
Increasing food equity across Indiana would greatly impact households who face food injustice. Food equity is the concept that all people should have the ability and opportunity to grow and to consume healthful, affordable, and culturally significant foods. Food insecurity is the major barrier to reaching food equity, and the best way to combat it is to act and learn what you can do to help. We can promote engagement and awareness in communities, increasing physical activity, preventing obesity, lowering the risk of early death, heart disease, and diabetes, while also providing disease management, environmental, economic, and mental health benefits. Register Here for the Food Justice Summit.
The HHWA is part of the Connections IN Health project, which is comprised of a team of experts focused on some of Indiana’s most chronic conditions, including obesity, asthma, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Please reach out to Antonia Sawyer, Lead of the Hoosier Health and Wellness Alliance at afsawyer@iu.edu for more information on the HHWA or to join the parks board development efforts.
For more information on HHWA and other Connections IN Health chronic disease coalitions in Indiana, visit indianactsi.org/community/initiatives.
