The anonymous 25-question survey, which is open until the end of the year, takes less than 10 minutes to take, according to Go Green leaders.
The appraisal of the Hamilton food system will look at four key areas: nutrition and food security, economic well-being, territorial equity, and environmental protection.
The survey is the first phase of the project, which is in English and Spanish, and Gambrell said no personal information is asked. However, they do ask which of the city’s 17 neighborhoods they reside and basic demographic information, like household income.
“The meat and bones of the survey is focused on whether or not if healthy food is affordable for their household, whether or not an individual would be interested in free cooking classes or community gardens, or things like that to help support them to get the nutrition that every household deserves,” said Gambrell, who is also the volunteer services and community engagement manager for Serve City, a homeless shelter in Hamilton.
Others partnering with this assessment, includes Miami University Hamilton, Hamilton HUGS, the YMCA, Jee Foods, Hamilton City Schools, Kettering Health, and the city of Hamilton.
Mayor Pat Moeller said, “I think it’s a great assessment and things we need to know about.”
Hamilton City Council member Carla Fiehrer is a part of Family Promise Butler County that is dedicated to address the needs of families struggling with homelessness.
“We really do need to be keying into something that’s more healthy instead of taking the easy way of what they more like,” she said.
This survey would also help Go Healthy Hamilton apply for more grants, Gambrell said.
“We know that there are issues with food insecurity, not just in the city of Hamilton, this is a nationwide issue, and we know there are funding options out there, both private and public ― millions of dollars ― but in order to access those grants, we have to have the data to back it up,” he said.
Phase 2 of this assessment conduct focus group sessions, called Food for Thoughts, which includes attending various gatherings and inviting neighbors to participate in a discussion on how food insecurity impacts them personally. Participants would receive a free meal at the sessions.
GO GREEN HAMILTON SURVEY
Go Green Hamilton, and its several community partners, are seeking information to help them identify barriers to food access in the greater Hamilton community. The anonymous 25-queation survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete, and is in English and Spanish.
For the English version: https://shorturl.at/xd1L7
For the Spanish version: https://tinyurl.com/5eee9y9r
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