In the New River Valley, a four county region in southwest Virginia, a multi-sector team has formed around interests of increased food access. The team is also interested in improving healthy food choices and exploring collective infrastructure models.
The team aims to improve food availability and distribution through food access programs across the planning district. This effort was created by simple conversations of folks working in this area and has increased through mutual relationships, engagement, and connections.
The group formed The New River Valley Food Access Network with an overall vision and purpose of relieving hunger in the NRV. Many more partners have joined these efforts and are contributing to the info gathering and sharing. These partners include food pantries, banks, kitchens, local housing partners, elderly care facilities, youth backpack programs, community gardens, and faith based initiatives.
Here are some of the needs in our region:
- 10% of New River Valley families and one in five children in the NRV experience hunger or food hardship.
- Approximately 1 in 10 NRV public health care expenditures are diabetes-related. This results in public costs anywhere from $255-$528 per resident annually. People diagnosed with diabetes have medical expenditures that are approximately 2.3 times higher than expenditures would be in the absence of diabetes.
- 6% of NRV residents lack access to a vehicle. Additionally, half of NRV residents live more than two miles from a grocery store. Both these issues can limit access to nutritious food.
- Access to affordable, locally-sourced foods is growing in the region. However, the majority of NRV residents still cannot access or afford local foods.