The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) has established a vision for children and families in North Carolina that children are healthy and thrive in safe, stable and nurturing families, schools and communities. A key component of supporting child and family well-being is addressing nutrition security for all North Carolinians. Nutrition security is defined as having consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe, affordable foods essential to optimal health and well-being.
In North Carolina, about 10.9% of the population – about 1.2 million people – are experiencing food insecurity. About 394,000 of those individuals are children, with about one in six children facing hunger. NCDHHS is committed to decreasing the food insecurity rate from 10.9% to 10.0% by December 2024.
The NCDHHS State Action Plan for Nutrition Security outlines an innovative, multi-pronged strategy for achieving that vision – including related goals outlined in the NC Early Childhood Action Plan, Healthy North Carolina 2030, the State Health Improvement Plan, and the NCDHHS Strategic Plan 2021-2023.
Read more about the plan here.