Being able to acquire nutritious food close to where one lives is considered a key factor in healthy eating. Identifying areas where geographical access to nutritious food is poor enables us to act in these areas.
Definitions
Area with low access to nutritious foods: an area where the average distance between home and the nearest store offering nutritious foods is one kilometre or more in urban areas or sixteen kilometres or more in rural areas.1
This toolbox provides public health professionals and other interested parties with the tools used in the EffICAS study. These can help draw up a diagnostic portrait of food access and evaluate the process of establishing food co-ops, as well as their effects, in order to facilitate evaluation in this field.
The toolbox was funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada, as part of the Promoting Health Equity: Intersectoral Action on the Social Determinants of Health program.
Evaluating the process of establishing the co-op makes it possible to document the process, assess progress towards the desired change, identify discrepancies between what was planned and what was achieved, and rectify the situation if necessary.1–2 The evaluation answers various questions3 such as:
From Tiny Tot to Toddler is a practical guide that contains scientifically supported information about pregnancy, delivery and the first two years of a child’s life.
Government of Quebec
