OAKLAND HEALTH COUNCIL FOOD PHARMACY

Food insecurity, or lack of access to adequate, nutritious food, is a prevalent, yet preventable, social condition that has been linked to numerous adverse health outcomes.

While it affects individuals at every age, it can be particularly detrimental to children: those who are food-insecure are more likely to develop diet-related chronic diseases, have impaired social development, and have reduced success in school compared to their food-secure peers.

At West Oakland Health, we wanted to identify the barriers residents face to access healthy food by providing fresh locally grown produce and dry goods that we receive from local growers as well as the Alameda County Food Bank.