The "Story Behind the Curve" helps us understand why the data on vegetable consumption is the way that it is in our community. When we understand the root causes of our community problems, we have a better chance of finding the right solutions, together.

What's Helping? These are the positive forces are work in our community and beyond that influence this issue in our community.

• Many programs in place to support healthy eating
• Collaboration between food relief agencies, Health Department, schools, and more to help those in need receive food
• Growing culture that expects healthy food options
• Multiple community gardens that serve food relief agencies

The Cullowhee Community Garden from Brave Sir Media on Vimeo.

What's Hurting? These are the negative forces are work in our community and beyond that influence this issue in our community.

• 1 in 4 residents live in poverty
• 30% of residents state it is difficult to access fresh produce at an affordable price
• 27.5% of residents deal with food insecurity
• Many residents live in a food desert

Partners in our Community Health Improvement Process:

• Jackson County Department of Public Health
• Area Agency on Aging
• Good Samaritan Clinic
• Harris Regional Hospital
• Jackson County Department on Aging
• Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department
• Jackson County Public Schools
• Jackson County Department of Social Services
• Mountain Projects, Inc.
• Smoky Mountain LME/MCO
• Western Carolina University
• WNC Healthy Impact

Partners With a Role in Helping Our Community Do Better on This Issue:

• Private businesses like fitness centers or other businesses with a health and wellness theme
• Grocery stores
• Food relief agencies
• Farmers markets
• Faith-based organizations
• Western Carolina University
• Southwestern Community College
• Region A planners
• Department of Transportation
• County planner

We are keeping an eye on weight status, diabetes prevalence, fruit and vegetable consumption, and physical activity levels as a way of telling how we are doing as a community in addressing healthy eating and physical activity and build a community where all Jackson County residents are at a healthy weight. We have also identified other data that is not currently available, but that we would like to develop to help us monitor progress on this result:

• Weight status of youth, age 18 years and younger
• Physical activity of youth, age 18 years and younger
• Less self-reported data and more clinically-gathered data on weight status and physical activity

The following actions have been identified by our Healthy Eating & Physical Activity Action Team and community members as ideas for what can work for our community to make a difference on vegetable consumption.

(A) Actions and Approaches Identified by Our Partners These are actions and approaches that our partners think can make a difference on vegetable consumption.

• Nutrition education
• Advertising and marketing, especially geared to the younger audience
• Identify wellness champions
• Decode food labels

(B) What is Currently Working in Our Community These are actions and approaches that are currently in place in our community to make a difference on vegetable consumption.

• Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less
• Blast Off
• Worksite Wellness Programs
• Living Healthy: Chronic Disease Self-Management
• Food of the Month campaign
• Food relief agencies
• School-based gardens
• Community gardens
• Cooking Matters at the Store
• Healthy Snack Competition
• Community Eligibility Program
• Summer Feeding Program
• Annual Healthy Living Festival
• Home delivered meals

(C) Evidence-Based Strategies These are actions and approaches that have been shown to make a difference on vegetable consumption.

• Increase access to healthy food choices at convenience and other small retail stores
• Increase access and use of community gardens
• Increase access to farmers' markets
• Increase the number of comprehensive plans that include health considerations

The Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Action Team completed the "Whole Distance Exercise" to begin the prioritization process and select actions to take to address this health priority. The team answered the following questions:

• Result: What quality of life conditions do we want for Jackson County residents?
• Experience: How will we recognize this result in everyday life?
• Indicators: How can we measure these experiences?
• Partners: Who has a role to play in this?
• Current Actions: What are we currently doing to address this?
• What Works to Do Better: How can we make our numbers better?

The Action Team considered all options including those that were no/low cost and off the wall. After reviewing our "Current Actions" and pairing them with "What Works to Do Better," the Action Teams selected strategies to implement based on feasibility, impact, and resources.