Food Access and Food Security Resources

Racism and Food Access and Nutrition Culture – Two-Part Series (September 2022)

The Illinois Public Health Institute hosted this two-part virtual discussion series to explore how racism, oppression, and colonialism have shaped American food access and nutrition culture and what providers can do to challenge these systems. The series was supported by the Building Resilient Inclusive Communities (BRIC) Program with funding from the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors. The accompanying worksheet is available for download.

Session 1: One Bad Apple: How the Lack of Knowledge About Black and Indigenous Food Histories Informs our Nutrition Work

Session 2: Eating with Our Neighbors: How to Identify Injustices and Create Change in Food and Nutrition Programs  

Food is Medicine Capstone Project – Tanner Wilson (April 2022) 

The Alliance for Health Equity (IPHI) collaborated with Tanner Wilson, an intern from DePaul University who is currently completing her graduate studies in public health. During Tanner’s internship with the Alliance, she conducted a national and local literature review, and co-led interviews with local food is medicine leaders. Tanner organized a presentation on barriers, opportunities, and best practices for food is medicine programs. This presentation covered recommendations for hospital and healthcare system partners looking to partner with growers and producers, strengthen evaluation, and leverage tools (like community mapping) to strengthen food is medicine initiatives.

Case Study: Veggie Rx

The Health Care and Food Partnership Case Study examines the VeggieRx program which is a collaboration between Windy City Harvest and four entities: Lawndale Christian Health Center, Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion, Proviso Partners for Health, and PCC Wellness Center. The Case Study shares how each organization adapts the program in partnership with Windy City Harvest to serve the food access and food security needs of their communities. Furthermore, the report dives into the impacts and benefits of the program. Using experience gathered from three years of implementation, the Case Study shares lessons learned and future opportunities for VeggieRx. 

The VeggieRx Case Study is the first in a series of case studies on health care and food partnerships. Additional case studies will be released in the future. 

Reducing Wasted Food in Illinois Hospitals and Healthcare Systems (April 6, 2022) 

The Alliance for Health Equity (IPHI) co-hosted a roundtable discussion with Jennifer Nelson of Seven Generations Ahead and the Illinois Wasted Food Action Alliance that focused on wasted food programs across hospitals and healthcare systems. A panel of speakers presented on best practices across food surplus prevention, food rescue and donation, and food scrap composting programs, and participants had an opportunity to network with speakers in breakouts.

Roundtable Panelists:

  • Graciela Guzman and Cosmos Ray – Chicagoland Food Sovereignty Coalition 

  • Luwana Johnson – Franciscan Shelter 

  • Erlene Howard – Collective Resource Compost 

  • Mary Niewski – University of Illinois Hospital 

  • Jennifer Grenier and Nicole Wynn – Loyola University Medical Center 

  • Ian Hughes and Erica Block – Rush University Medical Center 

  • Stephanie Katsaros – Bright Beat 

From Food is Medicine to Food is Justice (February 23, 2022) 

The Alliance for Health Equity (IPHI) co-hosted a presentation at the 17th annual Chicago Food Justice Summit (hosted by the Chicago Food Policy Action Council) with Dr. Saria Lofton, PhD, of University of Illinois, Chicago College of Nursing, and Laurie Ouding, RN, of Rush University Medical Center. 

This presentation engaged participants in a dialogue about how food is medicine programs must take an equity and racial justice approach to address the structural problems that lead to hunger. Panelists described how we must challenge traditional food is medicine models by shifting to a collective care approach where communities most affected by health disparities are able to access fresh, culturally relevant, and locally harvested food. The majority of the session focused on an open discussion with participants to co-design innovative approaches for food is medicine programs. 

SNAP & Medicaid Dual Enrollment (April 21, 2021) 

The Alliance for Health Equity (IPHI) co-hosted a webinar with West Side United focused on enhancing SNAP & Medicaid Dual Enrollment for hospitals and health system partners. The session objectives included: identify approaches and clarify steps for coordinated Medicaid and SNAP dual enrollment in healthcare settings; describe the benefits of dual enrollment, such as increased efficiency and a stronger application; and share tips for initiation and implementation of the dual enrollment process and dispel myths around challenges. 

Intended audiences include healthcare system benefits coordinators, social workers, billing departments, and all others who assist with patient billing and benefit enrollment. 

Presenters: 

  • Sara Bechtold Medema, Public Benefits Capacity Building Lead, Greater Chicago Food Depository 

  • Lindsey Arenberg, MPH, Manager of Program Development, Patrick M. Magoon Institute for Healthy Communities, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago