Business & Society

Food Insecurity Interventions Addressed at Most Recent Blue Plate Research

By Kirsten Reither |

Mateja Savoie-Roskos delivers a Blue Plate Research lecture on Oct. 24 at Gallivan Hall in Salt Lake City.

Nearly 1 in 8 Utahns are food insecure, and that percentage has increased in recent years.

Mateja Savoie-Roskos discussed efforts to address food insecurity in Utah at the most recent Blue Plate Research. The presentation happened on Oct. 24 at Gallivan Hall in Salt Lake City.

In Utah, some groups struggle to access nutritious foods at disproportionate levels. Rural counties, where acquiring food is more costly, for example, have higher rates of food insecurity. Households with children, the elderly, or people with disabilities are also at higher risk.

Inconsistent access to nutritious foods can have several downstream impacts on a person’s life, including chronic health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, stress and mental health complications, and problems with behavior and academic performance, among others.

“Consider that you are a parent with several kids at home, and you’re trying to figure out how you can stretch your food dollars so that your kids have enough to eat on a day-to-day basis,” she said as an example. “That causes a lot of stress.”

During her presentation, Savoie-Roskos highlighted two programs intended to address these food security concerns.

Double Up Food Bucks

Through the Double Up Food Bucks program, individuals receive matching funds when shopping at a farmers market, effectively doubling the money they can spend on fruits, vegetables, and other nutritious food options. More than 50 farmers markets, fruit stands, and Community Supported Agriculture groups in Utah have partnered with Double Up Food Bucks.

“This is a really great opportunity for people who do receive SNAP benefits to have a little more flexibility and a greater budget to spend not only on food, but on highly nutritious food that was produced locally,” Savoie-Roskos said.

In a study evaluating the impact of the Double Up Food Bucks program, Savoie-Roskos found that it effectively reduced food insecurity for people in the program.

Student Nutrition Access Center

Savoie-Roskos has also researched food insecurity on college campuses. She collaborated in a nationwide study across 22 college campuses, finding that 44.1 percent of more than 22,000 surveyed college students were food insecure.

Savoie-Roskos has worked with the Student Nutrition Access Center (SNAC) at Utah State University to increase the effectiveness of the program. Over the course of 15 years, the SNAC pantry went from a student-run program operating out of a trailer to a program run through the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences with official management and funding. She thinks that this could be an effective model for other college campuses to reference when trying to improve their student nutrition programs.

“This approach that we’ve taken to how we’re housing the pantry and why is very unique when you look at other approaches that universities are taking across the country,” Savoie-Roskos said. “It’s probably an area that we should be emphasizing and publishing on in the future.”

Although most of the campuses surveyed had a food pantry of some kind, 46 percent of them were administered by students and only 39 percent were provided with a budget, meaning 61 percent of campus food pantries relied entirely on donations.

Looking ahead

During the presentation, Savoie-Roskos emphasized the importance of continued research to increase awareness and funding for these and similar programs. “Research has shown that interventions such as Double Up Food Bucks and campus food pantries can improve food security, and it’s essential that we continue to find support at various levels to keep programs like that going,” she said.

Those interested can view the full presentation and Q&A session on the Office of Research YouTube page.

Blue Plate Research is an event series hosted by the USU Office of Research and sponsored by Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah. The series brings together state and community decision-makers with premier researchers to explore the health and well-being challenges facing Utah.

Learn more about past events and RSVP for future events at blueplateresearch.usu.edu.



WRITER

Kirsten Reither
Research Communications
kirsten.reither@usu.edu

CONTACT

Mike Whitesides
Director of Marketing
College of Agriculture & Applied Sciences
mike.whitesides@usu.edu

Mataja Savoie-Roskos
Associate Professor
Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences
(435)797-5777
mateja.savoie@usu.edu


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