A healthier place for all Kent County residents

In early 2018, Kids’ Food Basket, Access of West Michigan, and the Kent County Essential Needs Task Force Food and Nutrition Coalition sought to better understand the food systems in our community. To get a better sense of neighborhood health, food acquisition, and food resources, these collaborators worked with our team to help design, administer, and report on the first comprehensive county-wide food survey with funding support from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, Heart of West Michigan United Way, and Amway.

In September 2018, Datawise sent survey mailings to 7500 randomly selected residential addresses in Kent County. Surveys were also administered at fourteen neighborhood sites and pantries and distributed to email lists. Over one thousand community members responded to the survey, giving insight into questions about what they eat, where they get their food, what food resources they use, and what food resources they think could improve their community’s health.

Key findings from the survey are compiled in a one-page summary, while full results of the survey data can be viewed in an interactive Tableau public data visualization. Here, you can explore full details about where the survey was administered, demographics of respondents, and key findings about the community’s access to food and food resources. A full report of the project can be found here.

Please reach out if you have questions or feedback. Please email info@wearedatawise.com or laura.luchies@wearedatawise.com.