Equitable Access to Healthy Food Nourishes Unnoticed Communities

The perpetual rhythm of poverty, disinvestment, and limited social resources in high-poverty areas in Greensboro existed long before the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic only intensified the struggles of individuals living in communities of highly concentrated needs, such as lack of access to healthy food. However, the wealth of all these communities is in their relational power, which allowed many residents of the Eastside community and other unseen communities in Greensboro to meet the nutritional needs of their neighbors during the pandemic.

Former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said, “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you” [1]. This is exactly how the Community Food Distribution Coalition was established at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was an extension of work in the food space that was already occurring in pockets of communities around Greensboro and throughout Guilford County. This included Rockingham County and communities on the fringe of Alamance and Guilford counties where committed partners, agencies, residents, and individuals shared the vision that food is wealth, food is medicine, and it plays an intricate role in managing and preventing sickness and disease.

Much of my own work is centered around creating healthy and equitable communities. Cone Health supports agencies and programs that provide access to food for those experiencing food insecurity and hardship. Our relationships have enabled us to quickly address health and hunger in communities of highly concentrated need.

Greensboro was identified as one of the top 10 most food-insecure cities in the country in 2015 and now ranks 17th in the country [2]. Task forces and coalitions with a targeted focus on food access have come about as a result of these rankings. Cone Health partnered with St. James Presbyterian Church to provide a hot and healthy meal every Sunday, along with health education and preventive health screenings for blood pressure, blood glucose, hemoglobin a1c, depression, and social determinants of health, all in a safe place that felt like home. Known as Message and a Meal, this offering was open to all community residents and located in one of the poorest census tracts in the city, serving well over 100 meals each Sunday since 2015. We also established a Fresh Mobile Food Market at The Renaissance Shops at Phillips Ave. after the closing of the Renaissance Co-op in January of 2019. We partnered with the Out of the Garden project to provide nonperishable foods to those who reside in that community and also hosted other fresh produce markets at the Tim and Carolynn Rice Center for Children and at Message and a Meal. We have also partnered with the Cottage Grove Collaborative to increase access to healthful food to manage diabetes, one of the medical conditions the residents identified as a key focus. Resident feedback was provided during community meetings and expressed during visits with medical practitioners at the neighborhood medical clinic, as well as through outreach efforts with the community health workers in the neighborhood. This work is sustainable because of our relationships in the community, our listening to what community members needed, asking what that support would look like, and how they would determine when those needs are met.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we heard reports that the people who would be most affected by the pandemic were individuals who were historically marginalized and lived in marginalized communities, due to lack of access and resources. Since we already had a foundation of trust within the communities, and many knew how to reach out when they needed us, we were able to step up in new ways to address health and hunger. We used the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a guide to chart our path forward [3]. When schools closed, we worked with a food task force within the Guilford County Schools system that identified areas of greatest needs to distribute meals to children who would otherwise have eaten at school. With those new partnerships, we were able to reach far more people, more expeditiously.

Prior to the formation of the Community Food Distribution Coalition, Providence Kitchen had provided summer and after-school meals to children, as well as senior meals. Along with Providence Kitchen, Cone partnered with Cottage Grove Collaborative, Mt. Olive AME Zion Church, Renaissance Shopping Center, and Bethany Fellowship Church, growing to 10 food distribution sites in all. Each partner had a shared vision of ensuring all people had access to healthy food to prevent sickness and disease, and providing healing for those already experiencing sickness and disease. Working together to create access to food is the foundation of this group, which has since expanded to address other social needs and created a platform to apply for grants to provide continued support in Greensboro’s communities with highly concentrated needs.

The pandemic shined a brighter light on the inequities that continue to exist in high-poverty and undervalued communities. This has led to a move from conversation and awareness to meaningful action to create the conditions for living and eating well a reality for all the members of our community every day. Today’s communities of need reflect the policies and practices of old. We have a choice today to make safe and equitable communities a reality for future generations.

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