Project Grant 20236801539602

** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES FOOD SECURITY CHALLENGES FACED BY ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING SECTORS OF OUR POPULATION WHO ARE ALSO MOST LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE ECONOMIC AND HEALTH DISPARITIES. IN MINNESOTA, THE FASTEST POPULATION GROWTH IS EXPECTED AMONG HISPANIC, BLACK, AND ASIAN COMMUNITIES. CURRENTLY, 21% OF MINNESOTANS IDENTIFY AS PEOPLE OF COLOR, WHILE 32% OF CHILDREN 4 YEARS AND UNDER ARE OF COLOR. HUGE INCOME INEQUITY EXISTS, WITH 80% OF SOMALI AND 59% OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN PEOPLE LIVING IN POVERTY AND NEAR POVERTY IN MINNESOTA (COMPARED TO 21% OF WHITE POPULATION).REGIONALLY, MORE PEOPLE OF COLOR ARE MOVING TO RURAL AREAS OF THE STATE. WHILE THE SOMALI POPULATION IN THE MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL METRO DOUBLED BETWEEN 2005 AND 2019, THE NUMBER OF SOMALI RESIDENTS IN GREATER MINNESOTA GREW BY MORE THAN SIX-FOLD DURING THE SAME PERIOD. FAMILIES IN RURAL MINNESOTA EXPERIENCE POVERTY TO A GREATER EXTENT THAN THOSE LIVING IN SUBURBAN OR URBAN AREAS (11.5% IN RURAL AREAS COMPARED TO 8.9% IN URBAN AREAS). MINNESOTA RANKS SEVENTH WORST IN THE NATION FOR HEALTHY FOOD ACCESS, PARTICULARLY WITH SIGNIFICANT DECREASES IN GROCERY STORES IN RURAL MINNESOTA IN RECENT YEARS.WE PARTNER WITH A SOMALI-AMERICAN COMMUNITY IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA. SOMALI IMMIGRANTS ARE ONE OF THE LARGEST AFRICAN POPULATIONS TO RESETTLE IN THE U.S. SINCE THE EARLY 1990S. IN MINNESOTA, THE SOMALI COMMUNITY IS ONE OF THE LARGEST IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES, WITH AN ESTIMATED POPULATION OF 80,000, OF WHICH 10,000 RESIDE IN STEARNS COUNTY AND SURROUNDING AREAS. WE WILL USE A HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN (HCD) APPROACH TO DEVELOP PLACE-BASED SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE FOOD-RELATED HEALTH OUTCOMES IN THE STUDY COMMUNITY. CENTERED ON THE PEOPLE EXPERIENCING THE PROBLEM, HCD IS AN EFFECTIVE WAY TO DEVELOP INTERVENTIONS THAT ARE BOTH COMMUNITY-BASED AND PLACE-BASED. WE WILL CONDUCT NEEDS ASSESSMENTS OF THE STUDY COMMUNITY IN YEAR 1, CO-DESIGN INTERVENTION STRATEGIES IN YEAR 2, AND FIELD TEST THE STRATEGIES THAT WERE DEVELOPED INTO PROTOTYPES. THELEARNING FROM THE HCD APPROACH AND CO-DESIGNED, FIELD-TESTED STRATEGIES WITH SHARED WITH THE WIDER AUDIENCE.WE WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO THE EMERGENT LITERATURE ON TRANSFERABILITY ASSESSMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS IN IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES IN RURAL AREAS. WE WILL WORK WITH THE TECHNICAL ADVISORS ON OUR PROJECT WHO HAVE LED SIMILAR COMMUNITY-BASED EFFORTS TO ADDRESS FOOD SYSTEMS AND/OR FOOD-RELATED HEALTH IN OTHER IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES. TOGETHER, WE WILL SORT THROUGH THE TRANSFERABILITY FACTORS IDENTIFIED BY THE PAST STUDIES TO IDENTIFY FACTORS WHICH MAY SPECIFICALLY INFLUENCE THE TRANSFERABILITY OF THE PROJECT PROCESS AND OUTPUTS TO OTHER IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES AND DEVELOP HYPOTHESES ABOUT THE WAYS THESE FACTORS MAY INFLUENCE TRANSFERABILITY. WE WILL EXAMINE THE HYPOTHESES BY ANALYZING A PANEL WORKSHOP WITH TECHNICAL ADVISORS AND MEMBERS OF VARIOUS IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES TO GATHER EVIDENCE IN THE PROJECT WORK AND IN THEIR LIVED EXPERIENCES.