Needs Assessment-

Food Insecurity in Ypsilanti Adults

Fall 2017

By:
SWATHI GOPALA KRISHNA SHETTY
MPH NUTRITION - FIRST YEAR
COMMUNITY NUTRITION-NUTR 642
Background

Food insecurity is one among the several nutrition-related issues and is also a major
challenge in the United States, affecting 49.1 million individuals, that is 14.6% of households
due to resource constraints. According to Map the Meal Gap2, a study shared by the Food
Gatherers1 revealed that 14.7% of residents in Washtenaw County struggle with food
insecurity. The availability of foods at the national level depends on local production for local
consumption, as well as on the ability to import a variety of healthy and nutritious foods.2
Household food security is a major determinant of nutrition security that can only be fully
understood3,4 . In context to household food insecurity, the USDA states that 4.9% of the
population, which is 6.1 million Americans, dealt with “very low food insecurity” in the year
2016. This percentage of individuals was quite unchanged from the year 2015 (5.0%)14.
Food insecurity is defined as “the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally
adequate, safe foods, or the inability to acquire personally acceptable foods in socially
acceptable ways”, mentioned under Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights4.
Several factors lead to food insecurity, such as insufficient quantity of food, limited diversity
of food groups, poor safety of food, procurement of food in socially unacceptable manners,
which includes begging, relying on charity, scrounging, stealing, exchanging sex for food,
and other illicit activities1. Low income families with children have dramatic rates of food
insecurity with parents frequently saying they skip meals and make portions smaller to make
food last longer5 . Talking of poverty and its association with food security, the Hunger in
American Plan 2014 stated that unemployment is a strong predictor of food insecurity, and
Washtenaw County is found to have a 14.3 % unemployment rate6
Many health hazards are related to food insecurity. Depression and anxiety, poor
health status, increased cardiovascular disease in adults7 . CDC (Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention) provides data on food insecurity leading to psychological distress. A recent
study even reveals that food insecurity affects a person at the molecular level. For example,
food insecurity adversely impacts HIV transmission, treatment, and care. Individuals where
receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) who are also food insecure often have decreased ART
adherence, reduced baseline CD4 cell count, incomplete virologic suppression, and decreased
survival8. Chronic food insecurity can lead to consumption of unsafe food that might lead to
serious infections9. On an economic level, food insecurity also leads to a financial burden
through increased medical costs, investment burden into emergency food system, lost
educational attainment and worker productivity6
In Washtenaw County, Ypsilanti is a small town which is few miles from Ann Arbor.
The American Fact Finder recorded Ypsilanti's population to be approximately 22,000
residents with a racial diversity of about 60% white, 30% African American, 3% Asian, and
3% Hispanic10. Ypsilanti faces more challenges in regard to food insecurity than many
neighboring towns and cities. According to Health Improvement Plan survey data of
Washtenaw county-2005, Ypsilanti residents eat fewer fruit and vegetable servings and more
fast food than other county counterparts11 . In Washtenaw County, the number of restaurants
per capita increased by 140% by 2005, and the number of fast food restaurants per capita
increased by a staggering 6,100%7. Some data recorded between 1995 and 2005 by the
Health Improvement Plan survey demonstrated that the percent of overweight and obese
adults in Washtenaw County increased from 44% to 50%. Residents of Ypsilanti are heavier
than County residents overall with 53% overweight or obese in 2005 9. Even though many
aspects of the cause of food insecurity has been considered, there is a need to assess the other
factors like the climate, transport facilities, and understand non-input factors that might
influence the relationship between food insecurity and chronic diseases. It is worth studying
how these broader factors impact dietary intake at individual level.
The potential stake-holders for the need assessment included: Non-Governmental
Organizations like Food Gatherers, Ypsilanti Meals on Wheels, Ypsilanti Health Center, city
government, local food banks donating groceries, health policy makers, consumer
associations, doctors and registered dietitians, farmers’ markets managers, farmers, urban
farms, community centers, and community gardens.
Demographics and Economic Data:
Population:
As mentioned in the table, Ypsilanti is a small town with 21,081 residents comprised of
50.3% females and 49.7% males, with a median age of 24.6 and poverty rate of 33.4% 13

Table 1: Population at city, state and National level. Source: US census data, 2015

Gender Distribution

50.3 49.7

Mal e Femal e

Figure 1: Gender distribution in Ypsilanti. Source: US Census Data,2015

Age, Race and Ethnicity: Most of the population is under the age group of 18-24 years, with
the second highest being 25-34 years . Almost the same number of people are in the age
groups 35-44 years and 45-54 years.
 Figure 2: Age distribution in Ypsilanti. Source: https://datausa.io/profile/geo/ypsilanti-mi
The graph indicated the Whites are the most prominent race in Ypsilanti, followed by a good
amount of Blacks, and a lesser percentage of other races

Figure3: Race and ethnicity distribution in Ypsilanti. Source:

https://datausa.io/profile/geo/ypsilanti-mi/

Education: Among all the concentration in education, registered nursing seems like the most
preferred field, the second most common being general psychology followed people who had
completed just elementary education and training,

Figure 4: Distribution of completion of Bachelor’s degree in different fields. Source:

https://datausa.io/profile/geo/ypsilanti
Occupation: Most common jobs in Ypsilanti are Management, Business, Science and Arts,
Sales and Office services. The chart below illustrates breakdown of the primary jobs in
Ypsilanti

Figure 5: Distribution of major classification of occupation in Ypsilanti. Source:

https://datausa.io/profile/geo/ypsilanti-mi/

Unemployment: The graph shows the unemployment rate for the past five years, where the
number of unemployed individuals has increased at an alarming rate in Ypsilanti. As
mentioned earlier, according to Hunger in American Plan 2014, the unemployment rate is a
strong predictor of food insecurity.

Figure 6: Unemployment rate over past 5 years in Ypsilanti. Source:www.ycharts.com

Median household income and poverty by age and gender: The graph clearly demonstrates
that Ypsilanti isn’t doing well financially as compared to the state (Michigan) or national
level (United States). This is an indication of poverty in this city. Surprisingly, Washtenaw
county as a whole is doing well financial , but Ypsilanti being a part of Washtenaw county is
weak financially compared to other city in Washtenaw county. For Example, Ann Arbor.

Figure 7: Graph comparing the median household income between Ypsilanti city with
Michigan, Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County and USA. Source:
https://datausa.io/profile/geo/ypsilanti-mi/

Figure 8: Graph showing percentage of poverty in different age groups. Source:

https://datausa.io/profile/geo/ypsilanti-mi/
The above graph shows that majority of those who are poor are from the age group 18-34,
which means that most adults in Ypsilanti are under financial crisis.

Health Statistic Data:

Leading causes in Mortality: Heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and pneumonia/influenza
are associated with food insecurity. A lack of access to healthy food can lead to these disorder
and infections. These diseases are in the list of the top leading causes to death and also
illness, which is demonstrated by Table 2, this data is specific to age group between 18-24.

Table 2: Leading causes of death Source, : https://www.mdch.state.mi.us/osr/chi/Deaths/

Leading causes of morbidity:

 Table 3:Top 20 diagnosis for hospitalization in Washtenaw county for the age group-18-44
years. Source: https://www.mdch.state.mi.us/

Table 4: Percentage of Adults with health behaviors/chronic disease risk factors. Source:
http://www.ewashtenaw.org/government/departments/public_health/health-
promotion/hip/pdfs/ypsilanti_report

The table here compares Washtenaw County and Ypsilanti. Ypsilanti has a higher percentage
of overweight and obese, diabetes, percentage of people who eat fast food 2 or more times
per week, and eat fewer or more fruits or vegetables per day. The percentages here are a clear
indication that Ypsilanti has more chronic disease risk factors compared to Washtenaw
County.

Nutrition assessment data:

Dietary intake information: The map(Figure 9) below indicates that adults in Ypsilanti had to
reduce their intake of food due to cost more than adults in other neighboring/surrounding
cities/town. We can infer that financially, adults in Ypsilanti are not as good as other adults in
the other towns. The next map (Figure 10) shows that the percentage of people who consume
vegetables less than once a day is also higher in Ypsilanti. The reason for this might be the
lack of money to access healthy food or lack of groceries stores.
Figure 9 :Percentage of adults in
the family who reduced food intake due to cost. Source: Food Gatherers Organization, food
access data.

Figure 10: Percentage of people consuming vegetables less than once per day. Source: Food
Gatherers Organization, food access data

Food access data: In the map below, the majority of the stores are convenience snacks and
alcohol stores. This shows a lack of stores that sell healthy produce and the reason that
residents of Ypsilanti may visit these over supermarkets and grocery stores
Figure 11: Location and type of Ypsilanti’s food stores Source: Food Gatherers organization,
food access data

The figure below shows the availability of different types of healthy foods in food stores and
this graph shows that whole fresh fruit and whole fresh vegetables are sold in the very less
amount, in fcat the least in the graph. This infers that people don’t prefer to eat healthy or
because they can’t afford fresh fruits and vegetables
Figure 12 : Availability of Healthy foods in foos stores, Ypsilanti. Source:
http://www.ewashtenaw.org/government/departments/public_health/health-
promotion/hip/pdfs/ypsilanti_report

Food Insecurity: The data collected below from Map the Meal Program,2015 shows the rate
of food insecurity in Washtenaw county(Ypsilanti, is under this county), which is 13.9% and
the number of people who are food insecure are 49,170. The program working on these
demonstrate an effective impact in handling this issue but has not been completely
successful.

Figure 13: Food Insecurity rate in Washtenaw County, MI Source: Map the Meal 2015, Food
gatherers.
Community Assets and Resources:

1. Ypsilanti Meals on Wheels is a non-profit organization with the specific purpose of

delivering prepared meals to the homebound elderly, disabled, and ill residents
in Eastern Washtenaw County in the City and Township of Ypsilanti, Augusta
Township, Superior Township, eastern Pittsfield Township and York Township19.

2. Food Gatherers organization: They rescue food that would otherwise go waste from
300 local food sources including food retailers, wholesalers and restaurants and
distribute it to different food banks. 2

3. Food Forward Organization-Their mission is to rescues fresh local produce that

would otherwise go to waste and connecting this abundance with people in need, and
also inspiring others to do the same20.

4. Seedstock : a working urban farm that’s a demonstration, a production and an

education site, but also do policy work. They are working to create an environment
where everyone can thrive, where healthy food is accessible to everybody21

5. Ypsilanti Farmers Market by Growing Hope Program

 Downtown Market
 Town Market
 Ypsilanti Mobile Farm
 Ypsilanti Winter Market 24
6. Ypsilanti food co-op- they thrive to provide community with high quality food and
consumer goods, which are produced using ecologically sound methods and which
promote sustainability of environment and respect for the health and well-being of the
people that provide them25.
7. Ypsilanti Healthy Food Access Initiative (YHFAI) was formed in 2006 in response
to these results. Using focus groups and a market analysis, YHFAI sought to
understand the existing supply of and demand for healthy foods, including residents’
food preferences and the financial viability of various options for increasing access to
healthy foods. The project focused on the needs and desires of residents of the south
side, or Gateway, area of Ypsilanti, but has implications for all area residents26
8. Ypsilanti Food pantries- Hope America, Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Hope medical
clinic are emergency food programs across Ypsilanti26
Recommendation:

The above statistics and analysis demonstrate that the leading cause of food insecurity is
poverty and unemployment. These are the causes of lack of food access. Hence, to tackle this
community issue the government needs to increase healthy food access for the underserved
areas of Ypsilanti and increase economic development opportunities for producers and food
entrepreneurs. This can be done through urban redevelopment and place-making of food
sources so that it is available at easily commutable distance. This can be achieved by
establishing and encouraging more distribution sources between the farmers and consumers
and hosting frequent market hubs services and events to motivate the farmers. At the end of
these events, many farmers who might be willing to give their unsold produce to Food
Gatherers and similar organizations, instead of trying to sell it into a secondary market or
composting it at the farm. These events will create short term jobs for the unemployed and
also make food easily accessible to ones in need.

We can organize educational events to spread awareness of need to eating healthy by

educating about the chronic disease risk factors (cardiovascular disease, etc). Influential
individuals can show statistical data on how it is affecting our present and how it might affect
our future, hence what can be done to prevent these health hazards due to lack of healthy
food. Powerful figures can create many emergency food pantries close to neighborhoods. The
graph below shows that most places in Ypsilanti take a long time to commute and this is the
one of the reasons for Food insecurity and this can be solved by establishing more groceries
and other health stores. This will not just provide us healthy food but also generate
employment opportunities for many.
REFERENCE

1) Keenan DP, Olson C, Hersey JC, et al.: Measures of food

insecurity/security. J Nutr Educ 2001, 33:S49–S58.
2) Map the Meal Gap 2015: Overall Food Insecurity in Michigan by County in 2015
http://www.feedingamerica.org/research/map-the-meal-
gap/2015/MMG_AllCounties_CDs_MMG_2015_1/MI_AllCounties_CDs_MMG_2015.p
df
3) United Nations Organization. United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food
[cited 2007 Feb 22]. Available from: <http://www. righttofood.org/>

4) Franken Berger TR, Frankel L, Ross S, Burke M, Cardenas C, Clark D, et al. Household
livelihood security: a unifying conceptual framework for CARE programs. Proceedings
of the USAID workshop on performance measurement for food security, December 11-
12, 1995; Arlington, VA. Washington (DC): United States Agency for International
Development; 1997.

5) Chilton, M., Rose, D., 2009. A rights-based approach to food insecurity in the United
States. Am. J. Public Health 99 (7), 1203e1211.
6) Bureau of united states, Local area unemployment statistics, August
2017(https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm
7) Anema, A., Vogenthaler, N., Frongillo, E.A., Kadiyala, S., Weiser, S.D., 2009. Food
insecurity and HIV/AIDS: current knowledge, gaps, and research priorities. Curr.
HIV/AIDS Rep. 6 (4), 224e231.
8) Brown J, Shepard D, Martin T, Orwat J. The Economic Cost of Domestic Hunger:
Estimated Annual Burden to the United States. 2007. Available at:
http://www.sodexofoundation.org/hunger_us/newsroom/
studies/hungerstudies/costofhunger.asp. Accessed January 26, 2009
9) Availability and accessibility of healthy food in Ypsilanti.
http://www.ewashtenaw.org/government/departments/public_health/health-
promotion/hip/pdfs/ypsilanti_report
10) Waller, A. (2005). Presentation: “Consumption Climate and Fitness Forecast.” Washtenaw
County Public Health.

11) Ford ES. Food Security and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Among Adults in the United
States: Findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2003–2008.
Prev Chronic Dis 2013;10:130244

12) Lehman MW, Craig A, Malama C, et al. Role of Food Insecurity in Outbreak of Anthrax
Infections among Humans and Hippopotamuses Living in a Game Reserve Area, Rural
Zambia. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2017;23(9):1471-1477
13) https://datausa.io/profile/geo/ypsilanti-mi/https://www.

14) https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-
us/definitions-of-food-security.aspx

15) https://www.mdch.state.mi.us/osr/index.asp?Id=4
16) https://secure.ewashtenaw.org/HIP/HIPChartSubmit.do

17) http://www.ewashtenaw.org/government/departments/public_health/health-
promotion/hip/pdfs/food-gatherers-food-access-presentation

18) http://www.ewashtenaw.org/government/departments/community-and-economic-
development/workforce-development/act-88/act-88-
assets/deliverables/ypsilantimarkethubfeasibilityreport-final.pdf

19) http://ymow.org/

20) https://foodforward.org/2017/10/what-is-food-insecurity/?
gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjtHe2Yi11wIVGnZeCh1LKgXSEAMYASAAEgKJUfD_BwE

21) http://seedstock.com/2016/08/24/organization-grows-hope-and-food-in-ypsilanti-
michigan/

22) http://www.ewashtenaw.org/government/departments/public_health/health-
promotion/washtenaw-markets-brochure-2017

23) http://www.michiganfood.org/uploads/files/Good_Food_Access_Report.pdf
24) https://ypsifoodcoop.org/

25) https://www.cityofypsilanti.com/338/Farmers-Markets