Henry Ford Health SNAP-Ed collaborations creating healthy change
July 31, 2023
Summary: From creating free farm stands in Detroit to promoting healthier drinking water in the Jackson area, the Henry Ford Health (HFH) initiative Generation with Promise (GWP) is supporting healthier families and communities across Michigan.
Challenge: Many Detroit residents have little or no access to fresh, healthy, local produce within a reasonable walk or drive from their homes. And due to the city’s high concentration of low-income families, even those who do have access to fresh food may choose to spend their limited budgets on non-perishable items instead.
In a separate but similar challenge, a Healthy Kids Healthy Futures checklist assessment conducted by the Jackson Community Action Agency (JCAA) identified access to and visibility of drinking water as one opportunity for change at the Ashton Ridge Head Start site in Jackson.
Solution: GWP has partnered with Eastern Market Corporation and Come Play Detroit in Detroit, and JCAA in the Jackson area, to address these local challenges. Launched in 2007, GWP aims to help Michigan’s young people, their families, and communities “move more, eat better, and change lives!” It plays into HFH’s larger goal of creating policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) change so residents in metro Detroit and south-central Michigan can eat healthy and move more. GWP programming is made possible in part through Michigan Fitness Foundation SNAP-Ed funding.
In Detroit, starting in summer 2021, HFH facilitated a partnership between Eastern Market and Come Play Detroit. From this partnership, five neighborhood farm stands were created where residents could shop for fresh produce at no cost. Come Play Detroit offered physical activity programming at the farm stands, and all three organizations helped promote the programs to draw more community residents to them.
“Because it’s free, it’s taking away the burden of thinking about your food budget. We find that with a tight food budget, the first thing to get eliminated is items that are perishable. We were able to provide free nutritious foods like tomatoes, greens, peppers, bananas, and Michigan blueberries and tell people, ‘Take as many as you’re going to eat.’ It creates a nice comfort in the community,” said Eastern Market Food Access Manager Nicole Morba.
Meanwhile in the Jackson area, JCAA, with support from HFH, decided to help increase access to filtered drinking water not only at the Ashton Ridge Head Start site, but in a total of 35 classrooms in Hillsdale and Jackson counties. Brita water filters, pitchers, and individual reusable cups have been delivered to Head Start classrooms in Hillsdale and Jackson counties. Plans are in the works to expand the program with the addition of no-touch drinking fountains where children can also fill their cups and bottles with fresh, filtered water. This type of change would also impact people living and/or working in the buildings where the preschools are located.
“Jackson Community Action Agency is creating change around increased visibility and access to water for students. There’s a lot of importance around staying hydrated all the time, particularly in this hot weather, as students are hopefully getting out and getting physical activity. But a big part of it, too, is promoting the importance of drinking more water as a way to reduce sugary drink consumption, which is really a challenge for young people,” said HFH Project Manager Matthew Nahan.
Sustaining success: In the Jackson area, pitchers, reusable cups, and drinking fountains will be durable, useful resources to help students and school staff access clean water for the long term. In Detroit, 10,000 pounds of 78 types of produce were distributed across the five parks in the first year of the farm stand initiative. After launching at five parks in 2021, the farm stand initiative expanded to another five parks in 2022. Morba notes that the free farm stands are also building community. Local residents have begun bringing home extra produce for their neighbors and others have begun hanging around parks to socialize and attend classes before farm stands open.
