Good Bowls: Empowering Communities to Achieve Good Food Access and Health Equity

摘要- 低收入和少数民族身份以及农村居住是健康状况不佳的有力预测因素。 造成慢性病高发病率的因素包括粮食不安全（无法获得负担得起的营养食品） 以及缺乏经济机会。历史歧视加剧了东南部农村的贫困 针对黑人农民和持续的结构性种族主义。在饮食和健康的交叉点，蓝领 劳动力特别容易受到营养不良的状况及其对健康和生产力的影响，因为 这些典型的低工资工人在可及性方面面临着严峻的挑战（负担能力和 方便）的健康食品，但依靠良好的健康来支持经常需要体力劳动。很少 缩小健康差距的方法既解决了健康食品的获取问题，又解决了经济问题 机会。 Equiti Foods 开发了 Good Bowls 作为健康、实惠、美味的冷冻食品， 方便、本地生产且具有文化意识。我们的使命是减少健康 通过增加高需求社区营养食品的供应和消费来消除差异 同时为当地农场和小企业提供经济机会。我们严格建议 测试 Good Bowls 对健康的影响以及农村蓝领工作场所潜在的医疗保健成本节省。我们的 解决方案利用团队的营养专业知识，通过调整证据来创造具有文化吸引力的膳食 以地中海饮食为基础，适应东南部季节性供应和口味偏好（“中南”）。我们 与当地农场和企业合作，利用通常浪费的季节性多余材料来生产碗 或“外观上有挑战”的产品，以降低成本并扩大农民的市场。创造一个可持续发展的 在商业模式上，Good Bowls 采用成本抵消补贴方式销售，允许根据需求定价。 在我们的工地 RCT 中，受补贴的 Good Bowls 将与智能手机数字基础设施配对，以实现 蓝牙推动了工作场所和家庭教育编程。本次活动的具体目标 第二阶段项目是： 1）建立员工健康委员会，细化实施策略和 促进与蓝领工人和家庭的接触； 2) 测试 Good Bowls 补贴的影响 仅可用性和促销（Good Bowls）相对于 Good Bowls 手机应用程序轻推和主页 - 使用延迟干预随机对照试验的基于教育计划（助推/教育）；和 3) 使用直接面向消费者和零售销售进一步开发和测试我们的成本抵消模型，以评估 支持社会使命所需的高端销售数量和定价。我们还将评估医疗保健- 节省工作场所的相关成本，并为合作伙伴企业（农场、餐饮服务商、非营利组织）带来经济效益 参与 Good Bowls 的制作。与农村蓝领工地和当地合作 Equiti Foods 致力于通过改善农场和企业的饮食摄入量来减少健康差距 面临最大的慢性病风险，同时为农村社区创造经济机会。

Abstract - Low-income and ethnic minority status as well as rural residence are strong predictors of poor health. Contributors to high chronic disease rates include food insecurity (lack of access to affordable, nutritious food) and lack of economic opportunity. Rural poverty in the Southeast is exacerbated by historical discrimination against Black farmers, and ongoing structural racism. At the intersection of diet and wellbeing, the blue-collar workforce is particularly vulnerable to the conditions and impacts of poor nutrition on health and productivity, as these typically low-wage workers face heightened challenges surrounding accessibility (affordability and convenience) of healthy food, yet rely on good health to support often physically demanding labor. Few approaches to mitigating health disparities have addressed both healthy food access and economic opportunity. Equiti Foods developed Good Bowls as healthy, affordable, good-tasting frozen meals that are convenient, locally-produced, and culturally-conscious. Our mission is to decrease health disparities by increasing the availability and consumption of nutritious food in high-need communities while providing economic opportunities for local farms and small businesses. We propose rigorously testing Good Bowls’ health impact and potential health care costs savings in rural blue-collar worksites. Our solution leverages the team’s nutrition expertise to create culturally appealing meals by adapting the evidence- based Mediterranean diet to southeastern seasonal availability and taste preferences (“Med-South”). We partner with local farms and businesses to produce the bowls, making use of normally wasted seasonal excess or “cosmetically challenged” produce to curb costs and expand markets for farmers. To create a sustainable business model, Good Bowls are sold using a cost-offset subsidy approach, allowing for needs-based pricing. In our worksite RCT, subsidized Good Bowls will be paired with smart phone digital infrastructure enabling Bluetooth nudges at the worksite and educational programing for home and family. The Specific Aims of this Phase II project are: 1) Establish Employee Wellness Committees to refine implementation strategies and facilitate engagement with blue-collar workers and families; 2) Test the impact of subsidized Good Bowls availability and promotion alone (Good Bowls) relative to Good Bowls + the phone App nudge and home- based education program (Nudge/Education) using a delayed intervention randomized controlled trial; and 3) Further develop and test our cost-offset model using both direct-to-consumer and retail sales to assess the volume and pricing of high end sales needed to support the social mission. We will also assess health care- related cost savings for worksites and economic benefits to partner businesses (farms, caterers, non-profits) involved with Good Bowls production. Working in partnership with rural blue-collar worksites and with local farms and businesses, Equiti Foods seeks to reduce health disparities by improving the dietary intake of those at greatest risk for chronic disease while creating economic opportunity in rural communities.