Croatan Institute in collaboration with the Upper Coastal Plain Council of Governments (UCPCOG), Working Landscapes, ABC2, the Just Foods Collaborative and many other regional and state partners has completed healthy food access mapping project in the five-county Upper Coastal Plain region of North Carolina.

This project draws on the collective power of key stakeholders and communities to assess the current local food system in the region and identify where there are gaps and challenges in accessing healthy food, particularly in under-resourced areas.

Through a series of community convenings; outreach to residents, local organizations, policy makers, community health officials, farmers, and other value chain stakeholders; and analysis of third-party date sets, the project team produced an assessment detailing the region’s local healthy food system including an analysis of the assets, resources, needs, gaps and strategic steps and opportunities. The project team also built an interactive, public facing, user friendly, web site showing the local healthy food system that includes story boards and a healthy food assets map. 

This project seeks to foster an equitable food system that increases healthy eating in low-income and rural communities, create new wealth and health outcomes by expanding and improving access to the local healthy food system, identify and increase economic opportunities in the region’s local healthy food system, and sustain information for targeted policy, investment, and resource decisions.

Learn more about the project in this local press coverage.

Follow the link below to access the project ouptuts including a summary slide deck, a “deep dive” story board, a detailed HealthyFAM Assessment Report, an integrated GIS Food System Map, and more.