East St. Louis Community Food Security Assessment

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East St. Louis Community Food Security Assessment May 2010

Janet Broughton and Laura Lawson East St. Louis Action Research Project (ESLARP), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Abstract East St. Louis is high at risk for food insecurity, as shown by analysis of community socioeconomic and demographic characteristics; food availability, accessibility, and affordability; and food production resources. A community food security assessment, begun in this work, provides a good first step in the resolution of food insecurity. However, further work is needed to illuminate the specifics of food security related problems and inform what actions should be taken to best improve food security in East St. Louis. Now is the perfect time for East St. Louis to begin addressing food security by being a voice for the Metro East region in the newly formed St. Louis Food Policy Council and by connecting to mounting concerns about the way food is grown, purchased, and consumed in our country.

Table of Contents Introduction Methods Socioeconomic and Demographic Characteristics Profile of Community Food Resources Assessment of Household Food Security Assessment of Food Resource Accessibility Assessment of Food Availability and Affordability Assessment of Food Production Resources Works Cited

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Get Involved! If you are interested in working to ensure community food security in East St. Louis, please see Healthy Youth Partnership’s Food Policy Council Page (http://healthyyouthpartnership.org/site/index. php?option=com_content&task=view&id=308&Itemid=155) to get involved with food security work in the St. Louis region. If you are interested studying community food security, please see the Community Food Security Assessment Toolkit (http://www.ers.usda. gov/Publications/EFAN02013/) for the steps to complete a community food security assessment. 1


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