Guilford County launches online survey to assess barriers to healthy food

Guilford County officials want to know where and how residents get their food.

The county is partnering with the Guilford arm of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension to launch an online food assessment survey.

There are currently 24 areas in Guilford County that qualify as food deserts — places where people have limited access to low-cost, healthy fare — says Alyssa McKim, the county’s food security coordinator.

That’s actually a sign of improvement over the last 10 years, she says.

The survey runs until March and is just one of the ways that Guilford County is gathering information about food insecurity among residents. McKim says it asks questions such as: “Have you had to make a decision between medicine and food in the past year? Have you gone hungry in the past year? Do you know someone who is food insecure?”

McKim says the information will be used by Guilford County commissioners and policymakers to create a food action plan later this year.