At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, about 21.7% of American adults were food insecure, including one in three Black/African American adults—compared to one in six white individuals. The association between food insecurity and negative health outcomes—such as diabetes, obesity, chronic disease and overall poor health—among children and adults is one of the underlying causes of health disparities in the United States. During this same period, food banks and their partners across the country provided nearly 6 billion meals to households in need.
The next Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods (PRCHN) Seminar Series will feature a presentation on the topic by Owusua Yamoah, a postdoctoral scholar at the Mary Ann Swetland Center for Environmental Health at Case Western Reserve University, titled “COVID-19 and Food Insecurity-Spatial Dynamics of Emergency Food Assistance Use in Cleveland, OH.”
Yamoah’s talk will draw from food pantry use data from March to May of 2019 and 2020 to highlight spatial-temporal patterns in food needs in the Greater Cleveland area during the pandemic.
Yamoah holds a PhD in spatially integrated social sciences from the University of Toledo. Her research is focused on promoting equitable food systems and food sovereignty in the City of Cleveland through the development of tools and resources designed to promote community engagement in local decision-making and food systems change. She adopts a participatory system modeling approach and geospatial techniques to map out the complexities and dynamics of the local food system.
This talk will be held Wednesday, Oct. 13, at noon via Zoom. Register to attend.
About the series
PRCHN’s seminars feature presentations by researchers and partners focused on community-engaged work that aims to improve health in historically underserved communities. All community members and organizations and Case Western Reserve University staff, faculty, and students are welcome to register to attend.