Be Healthy Berrien Works to Promote Health & Food Security

A collaboration among many Berrien County organizations, Be Healthy Berrien has as its main goal of reducing and preventing obesity in Berrien County. Recognizing that obesity is a marker for poor health, poverty, under-nutrition, and sedentary lifestyles, Be Healthy Berrien seeks to decrease the number of obese adults.

To meet this goal, they hope to increase Berrien County resident’s consumption of fruit and vegetables and provide more opportunities for exercise and physical recreation. A systems, policy and environmental change approach recognizes that within income-challenged populations, personal choices are not the cause of obesity and inactivity. Rather, food insecurity, lack of access to healthy foods, and lack of safe recreational opportunities are the culprits.

 “Be Healthy Berrien is a community initiative that involves a lot of different organizations dealing with health,” says Heather Cole, director of Be Healthy Berrien. “We really want to affect how our community is making healthy decisions.”

Community partners involved in Be Healthy Berrien include Berrien County Health Department, Spectrum Health Lakeland, United Way of Southwest Michigan, the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission, YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, and Andrews University.   

“These community partners set strategy. So many other organizations throughout the county make the work possible,” Cole says. “It’s really a wonderful, collective effort.”

One of Be Healthy Berrien’s main emphases is food access and food security. Income-challenged residents in Benton Harbor and Berrien County’s rural communities struggle with both. Be Healthy Berrien’s “Healthy Corner Store” program introduces fresh produce and healthier food options to corner stores and gas station food marts. At farmers’ markets, it is encouraging produce vendors to accept food assistance dollars like SNAP and WIC. Be Healthy Berrien is also working with emergency food pantries to provide clients with more fresh produce.

“Our health is directly tied to what we eat, the quality of our food,” Cole says. “People who are food insecure are less likely to have a variety of foods, produce, and quality groceries. When you’re lacking vital nutrients, your body just doesn’t function as well.”

She notes diabetes and hypertension are two conditions found too often in food-insecure locales.

Be Healthy Berrien encourages residents to live active lifestyles by promoting local parks and recreation activities. In addition, active transportation activities are improving walkability and establishing more walking/biking trails and bike lanes. 

Cole notes that food security and environmental sustainability go hand in hand. When people eat food grown locally, that food is more likely to have been grown using sustainable farming methods and does not require transportation, processing, refrigeration, and warehousing that contribute to carbon emissions. 

“Our local growers grow more food than anywhere in the state, and second to California—and yet people are food insecure here,” she says. “Agriculture has huge impacts on the environment. We are making sure that we can continue this legacy of food abundance, making sure it is grown in a way that is safe, green, and equitable while trying to close those gaps between how much we grow and how many don’t have access to it.”

---