An estimated 14.5 percent of American households were food insecure at least some time during the year in 2012, according to the USDA. In North Carolina, 25% of children live in households that were food insecure at some point during the year 2012.
About
The Southeastern University Consortium for Food Security and Health is a partnership among the University researchers, food assistance program professionals, obesity and chronic disease prevention specialists, and interested others. We address pressing issues in the field of food security and health by responding in a timely manner to the requests for research from professionals working in the field. Specifically, working groups convene to answer pressing questions that relate to improving nutrition and food security among the food assistance eligible population in the Southeast region.
Consortium Mission Statement:
Provide an open communication pipeline between University research partners and federal agencies that will address regional poor nutrition trends, inadequate food hubs, and social/economic inequalities that affect a person’s health and quality of life.
Consortium Goals:
- Encourage synergy between institutions
- and federal agencies to consolidate research resources across the region and bring together similar research interests across universities so that efforts are not duplicated.
- Provide research and resources to gauge federal program effectiveness.
- Establish partnerships between consortium members to supply missing information
- and bridge regional data gaps, specifically providing more data about how to communicate with people so that change can happen at the local levels.
- Create an information pipeline so that research can be disseminated efficiently.
- Strengthen governmental grant proposals: encourage synergy and enhance research teams by filling in expertise where needed
Research Topics
- Low sodium messaging for children
- SNAP (formerly known as food stanps) redemptions at farmers markets
- Employment and training for SNAP particpants
- Parental outreach for USDA’s Summer Food Service Program