For PPA, one of the highlights of 2020 was getting to know better those who champion healthy eating in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP). We mapped out the organizational experience and the significant regional assets that are foundational for food-related cross-sector partnerships. We discovered stakeholders in health and food systems with an interest and capacity to address health-related social needs, such as food insecurity.
On behalf of Feeding America West Michigan, we conducted various research activities and explorations to identify opportunities to address social determinants of health using a Food is Medicine approach. PPA staff Dr. Nancy McCrohan, Anna Colby, and Nathalie Winans followed up a successful UP-wide webinar in October with a series of virtual meetings with stakeholders at the end of the year. Through these efforts, we facilitated regional connections across health care and food assistance systems. It has been exciting to engage over 50 organizations on this ongoing journey and to aid them in leveraging their experiences into new possibilities to bridge clinical health care and food.
For more about PPA’s food systems work, contact Nancy McCrohan, Ph.D., at nmccrohan@publicpolicy.com.