Prince George's County Food Equity Council Sustainable Development Strategy - Essay Sample

Introduction

Prince George's County Food Equity Council is a local food policy council which works towards assisting the residents to sell, choose, and grow healthy food. The strategy has been introduced in my community since 2013. It has been considered a voice for the county residents in the policymaking table ("Prince George's County Food Equity Council", 2019). The policy works with the county leaders in finding permanent solutions in improving the food system of the residents of Prince George's County. Also, the program focuses on sustainable and systematic changes in the public health challenges of the county including obesity, food deserts, and hunger which lack healthy food options through advocating for a policy that develops a local food system that is more equitable.

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In the past years, the council has assisted the local farmers to thrive and survive by making partnerships with significant policy makers and influencers in changing laws. Moreover, Maryland has been working with the communities since the 1990s to get health equity among its residents. Working with the community has proved to be fruitful since several advancements have been made to enable the citizens to access quality healthcare (Hussein et al., 2014). The markets of the local farmers currently enjoy extended operating hours, a more efficient permitting process, and fewer regulations and fees. Through the policy, there have been inroads in urban farming. Before 2016, the county's zoning laws only permitted one urban farm in the whole county. Currently, about 73% of the land of the county has been rezoned for urban farming and it means that more of the residents can enjoy green spaces, grow healthy food, and relate directly by their food source ("Prince George's County Food Equity Council", 2019).

The policy introduced in my community s sound as it has improved the lives of the county's local farmers. The farmers' lives have improved since they have been able to make extra income through the new program introduced in the county ("Prince George's County Food Equity Council", 2019). When the community gets extra income, then they can also meet their needs. Moreover, the county has been able to produce more food through the policy which is able to feed the whole community. The policy has also enhanced food security in the county. According to Coleman-Jensen, Gregory & Singh (2014), about 85.7% of the households in America were food secure the whole of 2013 since they had access to enough food that enhanced a healthy life. Unfortunately, the remaining 14.3% of households were food insecure sometimes in 2013. Therefore, through the policy, the county has played an essential role in improving the food security of its residents as most of them are able to grow and sell the food. Unfortunately, climate change might exacerbate food insecurity in the areas which are vulnerable to hunger (Wheeler & Von Braun, 2013).

Planning strategies like community-based approaches in the local food systems can help in creating food sovereignty in the county's neighborhoods. Through this strategy, the county can make more income that it can channel to other development projects like education to improve the lives of its residents. Selling food to the neighborhoods can also enhance the county's economic development. Sogie-Thomas et al. (2018), argues that intentional, timely, and effective policy efforts can meaningfully improve and influence the health of the public and reduce health disparities and ethnic health in the nation. Therefore, Prince George's County which most of the residents are African Americans saw a rise in obesity among its residents and that is the reason it opted to introduce the program that improves the food intake and health of the citizens.

The planning strategies introduced by the organization have improved the public health of the citizens of Prince George's County. The public health has been improved through the production of healthy foods. The policy has three main priorities including healthy food retail, local food production, and healthy eating and nutrition education ("Prince George's County Food Equity Council", 2019). Health is very essential in every area since it ensures that the risk of some diseases is reduced. Getting a balanced and healthy food provides the residents of my community with nutrients and energy required for repair and growth which helps people to stay healthy. The strategy introduced in this county has enabled the residents who most were obese to maintain a healthy weight.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Food Equity Council is a good strategy for the residents of Prince Georges County. Generally, it has improved the lives of its citizens through community unification, increased property values, and supplement income. Policy implementation and planning strategies make a community work towards a common goal of improving their living standards. Therefore, I can admit that there have been reduced crimes in my county since this strategy was introduced. The reason is that most of the youths no longer feel idle as they can grow, sell, or choose healthy foods. The growth of many counties in the United States have been mainly affected by high crime rates but this has not been the same case with Prince George's County since FEC was introduced.

References

Coleman-Jensen, A., Gregory, C., & Singh, A. (2014). Household food security in the United States in 2013: Statistical Supplement. United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

Hussein, C. A., Luckner, M., Samson, R., Matsuoka, K., Mann, D. A., Rekhi, R., ... & Sharfstein, J. M. (2014). Working with communities to achieve health equity in Maryland's five health enterprise zones. Journal of health care for the poor and underserved, 25(1), 4-10.

Prince George's County Food Equity Council. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.institutephi.org/our-work-in-action/policy-health-systems-improvement/prince-georges-county-food-equity-council/

Sogie-Thomas, B., Sankofa, J., Reed, C., Mfume, K., & Doamekpor, L. A. (2018). Health policy responsiveness: Lessons learned from Maryland and Prince George's County. Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities, 5(2), 366-374.

Wheeler, T., & Von Braun, J. (2013). Climate change impacts on global food security. Science, 341(6145), 508-513.