Amplifying Lived Expertise on "Food Is Medicine" in the Mississippi Delta's Legacy of Racism.

Abstract

For generations, Mississippi Delta residents have been subjected to food inequity and resource deprivation from centuries of racism. The Food Is Medicine (FIM) movement is gaining salience as one solution to address diet-related health conditions in partnership with health care providers, medical systems, and local agriculture groups. The Delta GREENS (Growing a Resilient, Enriching, Equitable, Nourishing food System) FIM research study conducted focus groups in July and August 2023 to center the perspectives and lived expertise of residents in the Mississippi Delta receiving health care services from the Delta Health Centers. This analytic essay provides context of the past and present food and farming infrastructure in the Mississippi Delta from the residents of these communities. The goal is to inform equitable and sustainable FIM interventions in the rural South and elsewhere in the country among historically marginalized populations. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print February 6, 2025:e1-e8. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307937).