Changing the System: Strengthening the Healthy Food Access System

One persistent barrier to community health in high-risk areas is lack of access to healthy food, a social determinant of health priority on every community development and investment framework. From 2017 through 2020, Jump IN launched healthy corner store interventions in the Far Eastside of Indianapolis, a severe food desert. Rather than waiting years hoping for a full-service grocery to arrive, this initiative created access to healthier food within a matter of months. Jump IN’s work much more fully developed during 2020 and 2021. By partnering with the City’s Office of Public Health and Safety, Jump IN funded and completed an intensive community-engagement process. This process led the City-County Council to pass an ordinance in early 2021 establishing the Food Access Advisory Commission (FAC) and creating the city’s Division of Community Nutrition and Food Policy, thus expanding an empowered and sustainable food system leadership infrastructure to partner with the reimagined Indy Food Council, now named the Indianapolis Community Food Access Coalition (ICFAC). Throughout 2021, Jump IN worked to stand up FAC and initiate its collaboration with an expanded ICFAC comprising many community voices, stakeholders, and sectors. The Division and the Coalition enable the Indianapolis food system stakeholder groups – food insecurity response, healthy food access (retail), and food economy (growers and supply chain) – to communicate, problem-solve and ensure that all Indianapolis residents have access to nutritious food that supports optimal health.

In 2022 Indy FAC approved the following initial priorities, and started to frame workplans: 

  • Develop a food equity plan; 
  • Decrease barriers to participation in federally funded nutrition programs like WIC and SNAP; 
  • Increase urban farm development; 
  • Create a centralized Food Hub: in 2022 Jump IN, in partnership with the City of Indianapolis, completed a feasibility study that determined that a centralized food hub would be effective in Indianapolis. 

As a founding member of Indy FAC and a developer of the model, Jump IN will contribute significant time in 2022/2023 to the following: 

  • Developing a multi-year approach to standing-up and sustaining a centralized Food Hub. 
  • Leading a collaborative application for the central Indiana region’s Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) grant and supporting its administrative arm; This supports the Urban Farm development work. 
  • Leveraging partnerships and resources to decrease barriers to participation in nutrition programs. 
  • Designing a multiprong communication approach that includes targeted and awareness-based strategies to help funders and residents understand the scope of FAC and how it can work with ICFAC to accomplish community needs. 
  • Examining how and ensuring that the food equity plan drives all of these priorities. 

We are also working with a national funder to support capacity-building and project development. This is truly moving our city to the next level of improved food capacity and infrastructure as we implement a more coordinated system.

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