Nourishing the Healthy Food Access System: The Story of the Healthy Food Community of Practice
Food insecurity is a persistent problem for millions of people in the U.S. Food insecurity is defined as having limited access to enough food to lead an active and healthy lifestyle. Populations at greater risk of experiencing food insecurity include older adults, children, and some communities of color.
Overall, food insecurity is a structural challenge. Numerous social and economic factors contribute to food insecurity, including inflation, unemployment, low wages, lack of affordable housing, systemic racism and discrimination, and chronic health conditions. These complex challenges cannot be fully addressed by one organization or program working in isolation.
The Walmart Foundation, which invests in efforts to increase nutritious food access and healthier eating, solicited input in late 2018 from its food access grantees on strategies for the future. Grantees expressed interest in a community of practice to learn and work together and strengthen practices related to program design and implementation. Walmart Foundation funded the Healthy Food Community of Practice from early 2020 through July 2024 and selected Share Our Strength through a competitive RFP to engage its subsidiary Community Wealth Partners, a social sector consulting firm, to facilitate the Community of Practice.
Engage R+D, a learning and evaluation firm supporting Community Wealth Partners in an evaluative capacity since 2022, developed this case study to tell the story of the journey of the Healthy Food Community of Practice. Here is a link to learn more about this work on the Community Wealth Partners website.
The purpose of this case study is to provide an informative example of the formation and evolution of a healthy food community of practice, including success and challenges encountered along the way, outcomes achieved, as well as lessons that apply to communities of practice broadly. While the case study shares some of the Community’s outcomes and accomplishments, the report—and the data collection supporting it—do not have the primary aim of documenting outcomes. Instead, examples highlighted in this case study should be viewed as illustrative examples of certain types of outcomes.
