Why Food Access Is a Health Issue

How systemic inequities, rather than personal choices, shape our well‑being

Mar 09, 2026

March 11, 2026, marks six years since the World Health Organizaton declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. What wasn’t clear at the time was just how much access to food would shape our health outcomes in the years that followed.

I still remember the day vividly when the company I worked for at the time announced we’d be working from home until further notice. I stopped at my local Stop & Shop for a few items to get me through the week. When I walked in, the shelves were nearly empty, turning slight confusion into a slow panic as I realized even the basic foods, from vegetables to bread, were gone. What began as a grocery trip became a hard lesson on how access impacts our food choices far more than motivation or willpower ever will.

I, for one, pray that we NEVER have to experience a moment like that again. However, the lessons that 2020 taught us still matter today. One of the most important things is that nourishing ourselves has never been about perfection, but the systems that make (or limit) access.

What this moment taught the world is something that many Black women have known for generations. Our ability to nourish ourselves is often shaped more by systems rather than our personal choices. That’s why, at the EBWH Community, we’re really passionate about moving conversations about health from focusing on weight to focusing on equity. An equity-focused lens on health recognizes that food access has been a global issue long before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Gaps in Food Access Are Widening

In the U.S., the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federally funded program that provides eligible individuals with a monthly stipend to buy food. However, under the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, SNAP benefits have been significantly reduced. While that reduction can contribute to food insecurity across the U.S., that impact won’t be felt equally.

In many Black communities, where grocery stores are already limited, cuts to SNAP mean that nutritious food options become more inaccessible. This is coupled with the reality that limited transportation makes it more difficult to get to a grocery store, and with inflation, the items that are available might not be affordable. Thus, policy changes around SNAP are only deepening the inequity that already exists.

Equity Requires Better Food Access

The reason we focus on equity at EBWH is that discussing health, especially nutrition, requires addressing structural barriers. For instance, in Massachusetts, there are more than a few farmers’ markets. However, it wasn’t until a local pointed out that not all markets are near public transportation and that many are open only during 9 to 5 hours that I realized how inaccessible they actually are. Even though these farmers’ markets are available and moderately affordable, it doesn’t mean that they’re actually accessible to everyone.

Therein lies the problem. Too often, many (myself included) have taken the path of providing nutritional education, believing that information alone can close the gap. As a nutrition coach who has worked with women around the world, I can tell you that nutritional education can provide them with the “what” to do. However, it’s equitable access to grocery stores and nutritional assistance programs, which gives them the actual “how” they will put that knowledge into practice.

Nutrition and Equity Must Go Hand-in-Hand

As the theme for National Nutrition Month is "Discovering the Power of Nutrition," it should be clear that this won’t happen without recognizing the power of equity. It’s through an equity-focused lens that we can demonstrate health isn’t solely for those who can “afford” it or whose plates are “perfectly” portioned. Instead, health requires having systems in place that enable everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status, to access the foods that nourish them.

This is part of why our personal focus this month at EBWH has been emphasizing that The Problem Isn’t Your Plate. Even when we discover the power of nutrition, we must acknowledge that there are systems that have created unique barriers to access to fresh, nutritious, and affordable foods.

By ignoring those systems, we treat people’s inability to improve their health as a personal failure rather than a failure of the system. That’s not only cruel but also the very thing contributing to the inequitable health outcomes that exist today.

Speaking of, what other ways have our systems created unique barriers to accessing health? Let’s start a conversation in the comments below.

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