FOOD &
NUTRITION
Black communities consistently face hunger at higher rates than other communities due to social, economic, and environmental challenges.
​African Americans are more likely to have and die from cardiovascular disease and diabetes, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health.
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The Food and Nutrition Program at The Center for Black Health & Equity was started in May 2021 to address Food Insecurity, a core influencer on African American health. Ongoing efforts in this work include: The Healthy Food Initiative, funded by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, as well as School Meals for All NC, funded by North Carolina Alliance for Health.
The Healthy Food Initiative aims to increase access to healthy food in Cleveland, OH by promoting informed food choices through implementation of a sodium warning label policy. The “Cut the Salt, Keep the Flavor” campaign was developed by a coalition of community-based organizations, health departments, food banks, grass-roots and grass-tops stakeholders. ​
The School Meals for All NC coalition works to end child hunger throughout the state of North Carolina by advocating for policy change that ensures every child in every public school in NC has access to breakfast and lunch at school at no cost to their families.
One in six children in North Carolina experiences hunger on a daily basis. In North Carolina’s most rural counties, as many as one in three children experience hunger.
Providing no-cost school meals to all students in North Carolina public schools will allow students facing hunger to get reliable, consistent, and nutritious meals; promote student academic achievement; and eliminate meal debt and “lunch shaming.”​
The coalition will advocate and build support for nationwide Healthy School Meals for All so that all schools can offer breakfast and lunch at no charge to all of their students.
Communities of color should have choices instead of being manipulated with excessive promotion at the checkout area and throughout the store to buy foods that are high in sugar, fat, and salt.