Building and Reinforcing a Community-Based Nutrition Collaborative

Empowering Rock County communities to create equitable systems change and increase food access country-wide

Full Project Name:Building and Reinforcing a Community-Based Nutrition CollaborativePrimary Community Organization:Rock County Public Health DepartmentPrimary Academic Partner:Christopher J Simenz, PhD, Institute for Health and EquityAward Amount:$46,455

Award Date

January2024

Project Duration:17 months

Project Summary:

Rock County has experienced a decrease in health outcomes since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and is ranked among the least healthy counties in Wisconsin. Obesity rates in the county are elevated compared to the rest of the state, and the county is one of the highest in Wisconsin for diabetes prevalence. Rock County has also been found to have low food availability (40/100) and more than 35% of the population is without access to a large grocery store.

AHW funding will allow the Nutrition Collaborative of Rock County (NCRC) to increase equitable access to healthy food for all county residents, by empowering community members to become active in community-wide efforts to improve the food system. This will be accomplished through NCRC participation in county community events, community-specific focus groups, hosting a community innovation event to engage the community in planning sustainable initiatives surrounding food insecurity, and supporting NCRC leadership development to strengthen the collaborative.

Community Partners: Stateline YMCA, UW-Madison Extension-Rock County

Outcomes & Lessons Learned:

Established the Nutrition Collaborative of Rock County (NCRC) and convened to develop policy priorities to improve the food environment in Rock County
Attended, as representatives of the NCRC, a total of 12 community events to promote healthy eating practices and the coalition
Conducted four community focus groups to better understand challenges to food access and consolidated data and findings into a manuscript that has been submitted for publication, but will also be shared in the upcoming Rock County Food Environment Report
Completed collection of county-specific data to guide future policy, systems, and environmental change work that the NCRC is proposing to implement in Rock County