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

摘要 新出现的数据表明，那些既有健康状况的人，如肥胖、糖尿病和心脏病 低收入和有色人种感染新冠肺炎的风险显著增加。 研究还表明，粮食不安全(无法获得负担得起的、有营养价值的食物)和贫穷 饮食摄入量可能是造成这些人群健康差距的原因。失业、贫困、种族 少数民族身份和农村居住地也是健康状况不佳的有力预测因素。需要提供无障碍 和负担得起的健康食品选择，以支持改善免疫系统功能的高危人群 因此，随着大流行的展开，这一问题变得越来越紧迫。营养状况被认为起着关键作用。 在预防、治疗和管理新冠肺炎方面，有均衡的饮食和一定的营养素供应 以增强免疫系统。然而，尽管对营养食品选择的需求变得更加迫切， 疫情导致食品业大量失业，与食品相关的企业关闭，餐馆损失惨重 和中小型农民的机构市场，多余的农产品被浪费或捐赠给食物 储存和分发这种数量的易腐烂食品的能力有限的银行/食品储藏室。这些影响 极大地加剧了粮食不安全，1特别是在少数群体和低收入人群中。 Equiti Foods LLC正在推进Good Bowls，这是一个生产和分销平台，以增加 为低收入和少数族裔人口提供健康、负担得起的、当地生产的、味道好的冷冻餐 城镇和农村社区，同时也为农村的小企业提供经济机会 社区。餐饮以地中海饮食为基础，根据口味偏好和季节性进行调整 美国东南部的食物供应情况(“中南饮食”)。Equiti Foods在中国测试了中南部饮食 多项研究发现，在低收入人群中有益的健康影响以及广泛的可接受性 关于品味。此第一阶段行政补充将侧重于为应用程序定制平台 当前的新冠肺炎对地区经济和商业环境产生了影响。我们的目标是帮助最小化 大流行对健康差距人群的健康、财政和社会影响。具体目标包括：1) 与农村经济困难社区的三家确定的餐厅/餐饮公司合作(包括一家黑人- 拥有和一家Latinx拥有)，以测试Good Bowls模型；2)评估对客户的早期营养影响 在食品安全、饮食质量和健康食品知识/行为方面受到新冠肺炎的不利影响；3) 将新冠肺炎相关的健康信息纳入为当地社区量身定做的Good Bowls包装中。 如果成功，这个项目将建立一个良好的碗模式的可行性，将：1)赋予小规模的食物 生产者，振兴当地经济；2)防止COVID扰乱食物分配造成食物浪费 3)为高危人群提供营养食品，协助预防和管理新冠肺炎。

Abstract Emerging data indicate that those with pre-existing health conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, are at significantly increased risk of contracting COVID-19, as are low income and persons of color. Research also suggests that food insecurity (lack of access to affordable, nutritionally valuable food) and poor dietary intake are likely contributors to health disparities in these populations. Unemployment, poverty, ethnic minority status, and rural residence are also strong predictors of poor health. The need to provide accessible and affordable healthy food options to support improved immune system function to higher-risk populations has therefore become increasingly urgent as the pandemic unfolds. Nutritional status is believed to play a key role in the prevention, treatment, and management of COVID-19, with a balanced diet and certain nutrients serving to strengthen the immune system. Yet, even as the need for nutritious food options has become more urgent, the pandemic has led to enormous food industry job loss, closing of food-related businesses, loss of restaurant and institutional markets for small to mid-sized farmers, and excess produce being wasted or donated to food banks /pantries where the capacity to store and distribute this volume of perishable food is limited. These effects have dramatically amplified food insecurity,1 particularly in minority and low income populations. Equiti Foods LLC is advancing Good Bowls, a production and distribution platform to increase availability of healthy, affordable, locally-produced, good-tasting frozen meals to low income and minority populations in small towns and rural communities, while also providing economic opportunities for small businesses in rural communities. The meals are based on the Mediterranean diet adapted for taste preferences and seasonal availability of food in the southeastern US (“Med-South Diet”). Equiti Foods has tested the Med-South diet in multiple studies and found beneficial health impacts in low income populations as well as broad acceptability regarding taste. This Phase I administrative supplement will focus on tailoring the platform for application in current COVID-19 impacted regional economies and business environments. The goal is to assist in minimizing the health, financial and social impacts of the pandemic in health disparity populations. Specific aims include: 1) work with three identified restaurants/caterers in rural economically distressed communities (including one Black- owned and one Latinx-owned) to test the Good Bowls model; 2) assess early stage nutrition impact on customers adversely affected by COVID-19 in terms of food security, diet quality and healthy food knowledge/behaviors; 3) incorporate COVID-19-related health messaging into the Good Bowls packaging tailored to local communities. If successful, this project will establish feasibility of a Good Bowls model that will: 1) empower small scale food producers, invigorating local economies; 2) prevent food waste resulting from COVID-disrupted food distribution chains; 3) provide at-risk populations with nutritious food to assist in prevention and management of COVID-19.