NIFA – Enhacing Food Security of Underserved Populations

Enhancing Food Security of Underserved Populations in the Northeast through Sustainable Regional Food Systems – Onondaga/Madison County sites

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture funded ‘Enhancing Food Security of Underserved Populations in the Northeast through Sustainable Regional Food Systems’ project is a five year project which seeks to improve food access for vulnerable communities while strengthening local economies. The project will begin by analyzing the entire food chain of a selected market basket of food items sold at two supermarkets each in Syracuse and Madison County. Each of the items in this group of food items could potentially be produced in Central New York State. The goal of this project is to explore ways regionally produced foods could improve food access and affordability for disadvantaged communities, while benefiting farmers, food supply chain firms, and others in the food system. This will allow us to better integrate local agriculture into regional supermarkets.

This project involves making connections with local grocery stores, restaurants, and food distributors. We will also survey grocery store customers to better understand purchasing habits and to identify opportunities and barriers to accessing healthy foods and well as determine what types of fresh produce they want to purchase.

Please click here to read more about this project.