Cuyahoga County has among the highest number of food insecure residents in Ohio. Not only do many low income people not know where their next meal is coming from, their neighborhoods offer few places to purchase healthy foods in what’s being described as a “food access crisis.”
United Way of Greater Cleveland intends to do something about this. They are joining forces with Cuyahoga County, Greater Cleveland Food Bank, The Hunger Network and others to combat hunger and increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
A new policy statement has been released that includes analysis and success stories. One of the recommendations calls for creating an Ohio Healthy Food Financing Fund to provide healthy food retailers with flexible financing to help them overcome barriers and allow them to serve fresh foods in “healthy food deserts.”
“United Way always looks for innovative and sustainable solutions to our community’s most challenging issues,” said United Way of Greater Cleveland President and CEO Bill Kitson. “We work with various partners to connect people to healthy and nutritious meals every day, but that’s not enough. We must also advocate for policy changes, like the Ohio Healthy Food Financing Task Force, to have a larger impact in our community.”