A research team at Case Western Reserve University is leading a food systems study as part of an effort to tackle food insecurity in Cleveland.
The study will look at community efforts including social marketing for healthy eating, expansion of local supermarkets and emergency assistance programs to figure out what changes can be made to reduce food insecurity and nutrition inequity.
Darcy Freedman, an associate professor in Case Western Reserve University school of medicine, is leading the study.
She said a key part of the study is understanding what leads to food insecurity.
“What would it take for us to move the needle significantly on something like hunger in our community," Freedman said. "We’re currently – one-out-of-two children in Cleveland, for example, are living in poverty and poverty is a pretty good indicator of risk for things like hunger or food insecurity.”
The study, which began in April of this year and will continue over the next four years, is being conducted in conjunction with more than a dozen community partners around Cleveland, as well as Ohio State University.
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