A local officer with the Southeast Missouri Food Bank has been selected to take part in a new, national task force for the food bank network, Feeding America.
Research and development officer Jen Wood will help in the strategic planning process for Healthcare Partnerships Community of Coveners, which will address food insecurity through healthcare partnerships.
According to a press release, Wood has been with the food bank for five years. Early on in the job, her main concern was the alarming rate of diet-related chronic diseases in the senior population, three times the rate of the rest of the population.
“There is no easy solution to the complex problem of hunger and health, but it is accomplishable. I have a responsibility to learn to be a better advocate for change,” she says.
The press release states the Conveners will work with the national staff to spread expertise about intervention for food insecurity, while additional groups will create national guidelines for prescription food boxes. They’ll also collaborate with healthcare organizations to create a best practice guide for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) application assistance.
Wood says her main concern going to work with the food bank was the alarming rate of diet-related chronic diseases in the senior population, three times the rate of the rest of the population.
“Jen has been instrumental in creating and building our food and health program, researching strategies to help our clients and give them the best-possible health outcomes,” says SEMO Food Bank chief executive officer, Joey Keys.
Some of her achievements, Keys says, are health-focused grants she’s written, which provided more produce, dairy, and protein to clients in their service area. He says the grants also allowed them to hire a health benefits specialist to screen for conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.
Community Health & Nutrition Coordinator for Feeding America, Traci Simmons says the organization looked for individuals with “unique perspectives brought through respective roles and experiences at food banks.”
“We look forward to collaborating to advance network learning and action to effectively address and reduce food insecurity through health-care partnerships and interventions,” says Simmons.