After conducting a survey in which one-third of the respondents said their household was struggling to get healthy, adequate food, the FRESH Project Food Council is implementing a plan to address the issue in Shawano County.
Beginning with a $130,000 grant awarded in fall 2015, organizers developed a coalition of groups to address “food insecurity,” which means people are not sure if they will have food tonight or tomorrow.
FRESH stands for Food Resources Education Security Health.
The coalition overseeing the project initially included Shawano County, Menominee County, the University of Wisconsin-Extension, Ho-Chunk Nation, Stockbridge-Munsee Community and Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. It later expanded to include members of the religious community and farmers.
Over the last 16 months, the group surveyed 745 Shawano County households and conducted seven focus groups to find out more about people’s access to food. About one-third of respondents said the money in their households did not always provide enough food, and they weren’t able to get daily allowances of fruits and vegetables.
The survey results, coupled with poverty rates and estimates of food insecurity in the area, indicate that as many as 10,000 to 11,000 Shawano County residents might be struggling to get the food they need.
To address the problem, FRESH is building the foundation for healthier, accessible and sustainable food systems by educating and engaging the community.
Its long-term plan is to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables by developing mobile markets with fresh fruits and vegetables in areas of the county that have lower incomes and are a long distance from grocery stores, creating a “double bucks” program that helps low-income households purchase fruits and vegetables, and increasing the Share the Bounty program so that community gardens and farmers can donate their excess produce to people in need.
Other efforts will be to promote the purchase of local foods, host educational events on food and local resources in Shawano County, and increase community support and involvement in the project.
The research project’s original grant came from the American Planning Association, a nonprofit educational group that awarded 17 such grants nationwide last year, and the American Public Health Association. The grants, in a program called Plan4Health, are aimed at combating chronic disease by promoting nutritional eating or physical exercise. The grant period ends in February.
The project’s food council is working to secure future funding and community support. Anyone interested in making a donation or hosting a presentation for their community group or church is encouraged to contact FRESH at thefreshproject.org, Kari Hopfensperger at 715-526-4970 or Nancy Schultz at 715-526-4869.