Snow Hill, MD– Today, Worcester County Health Department announces it has received  grant funding to address healthy food access and nutrition education in Worcester County.

This is part of a $7.1 million community investment by CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst), one of the country's largest not-for-profit healthcare organizations, to combat diabetes.

The Worcester County Health Department and project partners including Chesapeake Health Care, University of Maryland Extension, Worcester County Library, Worcester County Public Schools, and community garden partners will use this funding to implement Cooking up Health in Worcester: A Nourishing Neighbors Program. The two main goals of the project are to improve local food access and to increase nutrition education and literacy. The program is designed to improve access to healthy food; increase knowledge, skills and abilities related to financial literacy, maximizing food sources, and budget; empower residents to grow, cook, and preserve healthy food; enable community residents to benefit from food share boxes; expand access to fresh produce from community gardens and pop-up farmers markets; and ultimately reduce food insecurity and barriers to good nutrition.

“Worcester Health is grateful for this opportunity to work with our community and partners to improve nutrition education and access to healthy food for our county residents,” said Rebecca Jones, Health Officer. “This program will teach residents how to plant, grow, cook, eat, and preserve nutritious food all with the goal of improving the health of our county.”

The grant is part of CareFirst’s Place-Based Grants Initiative, aimed at empowering local nonprofits and public health agencies across Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Northern Virginia to address diabetes and food-related chronic conditions. The grantees will focus on reducing health disparities by tackling food insecurity, a key factor in both prevention and management. 

Worcester County Health Department is one of 30 organizations in the region to receive the grant. CareFirst projects the grants will impact 1.5 million residents across the region. A full list of fellow grantees can be found here. The funded programs focus on three key areas:

• Expanding local food systems to increase access to fresh, locally grown produce;
• Implementing food-is-medicine programs, including medically tailored meal distribution to support chronic disease management; and
• Providing food literacy, nutrition education, and healthy meal preparation training.

“The grantees CareFirst is investing in are already doing incredible work in their communities, and this funding helps them expand their reach and deepen their impact,” said Kimberly Harris, Director of Community Health and Social Impact at CareFirst. “Our commitment to place-based solutions is about working alongside these organizations to advance our shared mission of improving health through access to nutritious food and education. Meaningful change happens when communities come together.” 

Food insecurity is a significant public health issue that affects overall wellness. One in nine Marylanders, including one in seven children, faces food insecurity. To learn more about the Worcester County Health Department visit www.worcesterhealth.org.