Diamonds in the Kitchen
What Do We Know?
The staff and volunteers at Acres of Diamonds provide a supportive environment focused on building lasting relationships and empowering previously displaced women to be their best selves. Private grants, donations, and federal food assistance ensures that no-one goes hungry. Acres of Diamonds aims to end homelessness and poverty by addressing the root cause, and enabling the residents with skills, resources, and relationships.
Acres is a Non-Profit organization with a small but dedicated staff, 11 residents with their children, and is located in Duvall, Washinton.
According to data accrued from King County reports in 2016 and the CDC, children from lower income families are at a higher risk for obesity and nutritional deficiencies partly due to lower fruit and vegetable intake. Additionally, people receiving SNAP benefits in the United States have significantly lower intake of fresh foods and a higher intake of sugary beverages and processed snacks- both of which contribute to a higher incidence of chronic disease over time.
What's Next?
During the visits to the Acres of Diamonds Campus, the faculty suggested that providing a recipe book of inexpensive, simple, and kid friendly recipes. This would solve several of the issues by giving the women a repertoire of ideas for weekday meals and helping to expand on their knowledge in the kitchen.
Considering all the input, we determined three priorities all relating to providing recipes, increasing education, and optimizing SNAP usage for nutritional adequacy.
View our Program Plan for details on how we hope to achieve these goals.
The Needs Assessment is a report compiling information from the interviews at Acres of Diamonds, scientific literature related to the issues of the population, and data from the CDC and King County. The information is analyzed, priorities are outlined, and objectives are set. The purpose of the Needs Assessment is to ensure that whatever program is implemented will cater to both the needs of the residents and address foundational barriers to nutrition. Below is a summary of the Needs Assessment. To view the document in its entirety, download by following the link at the bottom of this page.
Summary of Needs Assessment
What is the Problem?
The perceived problems observed during the field visit include limited access to healthy foods, lack of knowledge on utilizing available resources, and time and skill constraints related to cooking and planning for healthy meals. The residents have access to a variety of foods, but incorporating healthy, fresh fruits and vegetables is a challenge due to the perceptions of cost, cooking skills, and limited time.
With a limited budget, procuring healthy foods can be a challenge. Many of the foods that are available aren't eaten and go to waste because the residents simply don't know how to use them in recipes that will be accepted by the children, and within their capabilities to cook in a limited about of time.