Childhood obesity and food insecurity often disproportionally affect lower income households and both issues worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, causing already vulnerable children to fall further behind in overall health and wellness indicators. Current data shows at least 7.1% of Arlington residents overall experience food insecurity, while rates increase to as high as 14.5% residents in some south and east Arlington neighborhoods. Charitable food providers have seen record numbers of clients since 2020 due to the pandemic and economic factors, including inflation which caused higher food prices.
In 2021, recognizing the need for a more comprehensive effort to address the causes and impacts of food security, Arlington County created a Food Security Task Force. Mary Sanders, HCAT Arlington Coordinator, was invited to join the group to help develop a comprehensive food security plan to address many of the issues that food insecure families face. As part of the plan, Urban Institute conducted a survey of residents in targeted neighborhoods to assess food insecurity rates, ability to access food assistance, and identify the barriers to receiving food assistance. Urban Institute’s full report and executive summary provides information on the key findings, and the Task Force used the findings and recommendations to develop Arlington County’s first Food Security Strategic Plan in late 2022.
In order to implement 28 strategies in the Strategic Plan, Arlington County launched a new Food Security Coalition. Mary Sanders serves on the Leadership Committee of the Food Security Coalition and co-chairs the Outreach Working Group, responsible for overseeing the implementation of outreach-focused strategies from the Strategic Plan. The Outreach Working Group focuses on coordinating and promoting existing food assistance resources and federal nutrition program information, increasing nutrition education opportunities, and facilitating resident feedback about ongoing food assistance programs and services. The Food Security Coalition is open to the public and interested community members can apply through the website to join one of the working groups or peer roundtables.