Improving Access to Good Nutrition in Riley County, Kansas

Abstract

According to Feeding America, 40,044,000 or 12.5% of Americans are food insecure (“Map the Meal Gap”, 2019.) If you were to look at the state of Kansas, specifically Riley County, you see that food insecurity is a huge concern. In 2017, Riley County had a food insecurity prevalence of 17.5% calculating to 13,240 individuals struggling to access food (“Map the Meal Gap”, 2019). Other factors to consider with a food insecure population are chronic health outcomes and increased food waste due to lack of food skills and education. The public health issue, stated above, was my area of focus during my time with the Flint Hills Wellness Coalition (FHWC), specifically the Nutrition Workgroup and Food and Farm Council (FFC) of Riley County and the City of Manhattan. While interning with FHWC, I learned about the Riley County food system needs and gaps, from previously collected data. The purpose of assessing that data was to make recommendations or action steps on how we can create a more healthful food system in Riley County. I also gathered a valuable experience and understanding of the complexity of community work, adaptive leadership skills and the efforts it takes to capacity build sustainable community partners, in order to better the local food system.