Food for Heatlh Equity Lab

Hunger is a persistent problem in under-resourced communities and communities of color across the United States, affecting over 37.1 million Americans. During the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity has doubled. To cope, families often rely on low-cost foods which tend to be unhealthy, exacerbating chronic conditions like obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. Worse, these chronic conditions are often the underlying conditions driving COVID-19 mortality rates. Food insecurity was already an urgent problem before the pandemic; it is now one of the most prominent health equity challenges in the United States.

Community health centers are the primary responders for families facing food insecurity and managing chronic conditions. The typical recommendation is to refer families to government and local food assistance, which is essential, but insufficient for achieving increase access to healthy food and improving health outcomes. The Food for Health Equity Lab strives to generate evidence -- for example, in how nutritious food and fresh vegetables can reduce chronic disease -- that community health centers can use to improve people’s nutrition and health.

The goal of the Food for Health Equity Lab is to generate evidence that can be implemented in community health centers to effectively address food insecurity in a way that improves patient outcomes. This work particularly focuses on improving nutrition and reducing chronic diseases within under-resourced communities and communities of color. Currently, the Food for Health Equity Lab is home to three independent projects located in the San Francisco Bay Area. Each project involves the delivery of healthy foods to patients and behavior support that helps patients develop and maintain healthy habits.

Taken together, this research will fill a critical gap in knowledge addressing food insecurity and provides key evidence to community health centers and stakeholders. These can include funders and policymakers seeking to address food insecurity in a way that simultaneously improves nutrition, chronic disease outcomes, and healthcare utilization.