Empowering Community Through Food Systems

Inadequate food systems can exacerbate food access issues and poor health outcomes. The NJ Roadmap for Food System Resilience outlined recommendations and opportunities to move New Jersey toward a more equitable and resilient food system based on input from government agencies, researchers, community-based organizations, and advocates working across all sectors of the food system.

One recommendation was to improve knowledge and assessment of key metrics relating to food equity. Studies have shown that engaging the community and making data more accessible leads to improved community understanding of local issues and the identification of data-driven solutions. This project will allow the Department of Family & Community Health Sciences and NJ Food Democracy Collaborative to work with colleagues in Newark, Camden, and New Brunswick to develop a food system dashboard that includes data and community assets within these communities, with the potential of expanding this work across the state. Community partners will lead efforts in identifying key stakeholders for participation in focus groups, which will be used to collect input on each city’s dashboard.

This recruitment, as well as recruitment for other aspects where stakeholder feedback is needed (as it is anticipated there will be multiple time points given the iterative design process), will also leverage their existing relationships as trusted partners within their respective cities. This work addresses the REACH priority of food access and security by conducting community asset mapping and developing a location to compile a food systems toolkit hub in the future.