WVU in the News: Experts, community leaders talk solutions to state food desert problem
Community leaders, researchers and public policy experts met Tuesday in Bridgeport to find the oasis in the state’s food deserts — parts of the state with no or limited access to fresh food and groceries.
The 2019 West Virginia Food Desert Summit took place at the Bridgeport Conference Center Tuesday. It was the third installment of a series of meetings put on by various agencies and schools at West Virginia University to develop strategies for helping increase access to food options in rural parts of the state.
The summit’s vision statement calls for a full grocery and supermarket experience for West Virginians that focuses on five A’s: accommodating, acceptable, available, assessable and affordable.
“Our mission statement today is to provide for a retail experience that accommodates the preferences of everyone in West Virginia, especially its low-wealth communities, with healthy food options that are affordable, available, acceptable, and accessible,” said Lauri Andress, an assistant professor with the WVU School of Public Health. “We’re using that statement to guide the way we are thinking about and having a conversation about food deserts in West Virginia.”