Our nutrition strategy focuses on addressing health disparities in the African-American and African immigrant/refugee communities through food and nutrition.

We work collaboratively with various community organizations to leverage their expertise, skills and community work to reach our target population.

Our hope is to uplift the Black, African-American and African immigrant/refugee community in Multnomah County through enhanced nutritional platforms, social cohesion, and economic development.

Focus Areas

  • Address breastfeeding disparities by working to provide culturally-specific education and policy recommendations while simultaneously working to normalize breastfeeding in our community.
  • Address food insecurity by assessing school-based food pantries and working to mitigate barriers to food access for our population.
  • Increase food access by working with local black farmers to provide two 18-week community supported agriculture (CSA) programs. Additionally, using this platform to educate, promote, and encourage healthy eating habits.
  • Foster opportunity for healthy nutrition standards and healthy food procurement by working with Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Center to establish policies and guideline to enhance the food quality and nutritional value of food served. Additionally, promoting economic development in the Black/AA and AI/R communities by sourcing vegetables and other food items from Black farmers and food producers.

Resources

Cooking Demonstrations

Tune in for videos and live cooking demos that teach healthy recipes and cooking methods.

Breastfeeding 

Review the toolkit below to help you advocate and implement breastfeeding practices in the work place.

Review specific documents in the toolkit.

Partner With Us

To learn more or partner with us on some of these initiatives, contact the REACH program Manager, Charlene McGee, MPH at charlene.a.mcgee@multco.us.

Nutrition Partners

External

Internal

Nutrition Resources