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Improving Health Outcomes and Advancing Health Equity in Imperial County Rural Communities through Increasing Healthy Food Access

Award Number: R01MD020700
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CENTER ON MINORITY HEALTH AND HEALTH DISPARITIES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 05/06/2026
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 11/30/2030

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Improving Health Outcomes and Advancing Health Equity in Imperial County Rural Communities through Increasing Healthy Food Access - Rural communities experience higher food insecurity prevalence and residents face challenges in obtaining food due to a number of barriers, including economic and financial instability, transportation limitations, and lack of or limited access to stores that offer varied, healthy, and affordable food options. Supermarkets are not readily accessible and independently- owned small markets, corner, liquor, and convenience stores are more prevalent. While these small stores generally offer limited healthy food options, they are existing assets in the community that are already serving community residents and can become an important source of healthy food access that increases the visibility and variety of nutritious foods within rural communities. The long-term goal of this project is to test the effectiveness of the introduction of a produce distribution service into small stores on increasing healthy food access, reducing health disparities, and improving psychosocial health outcomes among low-income, primarily Hispanic rural community residents in Imperial County, CA. This project will accomplish three specific aims: Specific Aim 1: Assess and characterize the food environment in Imperial County, CA. The food environment will be evaluated by creating a Geographic Information System that captures existing food retailers, conducting in-store observational audits of all food retailers to assess current healthy food accessibility and availability, and analyzing the data to identify healthy food access gaps and potential small store partners for produce distribution services. Specific Aim 2: Adapt and implement the produce distribution service. The produce distribution service will be adapted based on input from a community advisory board and small store owners. Quantitative and qualitative data will assess the feasibility and acceptability of the service and indicate if its elements met the needs of small store owners and community residents, and were acceptable, feasible, cost-effective, and contextually-relevant. Specific Aim 3: Evaluate the preliminary multi-level effectiveness of produce distribution services to partner stores. Multi-method, longitudinal data will be analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of the produce distribution service in improving produce accessibility and availability and food security, and changing food acquisition and dietary intake behaviors. By adapting and implementing a produce distribution service for rural communities that has been successful in urban communities, this project has the potential to inform approaches for leveraging existing assets in the community to increase healthy food access within rural communities that face considerable barriers in improving the food environment.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $899,820 )
2026	2026	SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION	5250 CAMPANILE DR	SAN DIEGO	CA	92182	SAN DIEGO	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	000	1	5/8/2026	NEW	$899,820
														Subtotal = $899,820

Grand Total All Awards = $899,820

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Improving Health Outcomes and Advancing Health Equity in Imperial County Rural Communities through Increasing Healthy Food Access

Award Number: R01MD020700

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CENTER ON MINORITY HEALTH AND HEALTH DISPARITIES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 05/06/2026

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 11/30/2030

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