Nutrition: Healthy Eating
Increasing access to fresh fruits and vegetables
Despite Minnesota’s reputation of being a diverse and rich agricultural state, not everyone has access to healthy and affordable food. In some communities, finding fresh food means traveling long distances from home or paying unaffordable prices.
Too many Minnesotans cannot find fresh fruits and vegetables near their homes or what they can find is limited and expensive. In fact, nearly 235,000 Minnesotans live more than 10 miles away from a large grocery store or supermarket. Minnesota ranks 7th worst in the nation for the share of residents with low access to healthy foods and is second only to Texas, with the worst access in rural areas.1
MDH and its public health and community partners work to increase access to and the selection of healthy foods to improve health and reduce chronic diseases for all by implementing community-based healthy eating strategies.
Learn how the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership is expanding access to healthy eating and healthy foods.
1Rausch, E, Mattessich, P. Healthy Food Access: A View of the Landscape in Minnesota and Lessons Learned from Healthy Food Financing Initiatives. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota and Wilder Research; April 2016.