Local Matters
Who We Are: Local Matters’ mission is to build healthier communities through food education, access, and advocacy.We lead hands-on programming that empowers people to access the skills, knowledge, and resources they need to eat well and feed their families, regardless of income or zip code. In 2019, we reached 23,000 people of all ages and backgrounds with life-changing programs that increase food security and prevent diet-related disease.
What We Do: Local Matters has a twelve-year history of working to increase access to healthy foods and providing hands on food education in partnership with other nonprofits, businesses, schools, healthcare systems, and more to deliver programming at over 100 sites across Ohio.We help people access healthy food through programs likeVeggie Van, a mobile grocer bringing affordable, healthy food to communities without grocery stores. We provide education that helps people of all ages enhance culinary skills, build knowledge, and develop healthy habits. Local Matters oversees more than 15 community gardens that support this work and grow fresh fruits and vegetables, year-round.
Why We’re Important: Central Ohio is a prosperous area with a wealth of resources, but the community still faces healthcare challenges. More than 206,830 Franklin County residents were food insecure in 2017. Research shows adults with low food security are more likely to have a chronic illness, intensifying the negative outcomes associated with both hunger and diet-related disease. This is particularly relevant as we grapple with COVID-19 and the disproportionate effect it has on BIPOC and poor communities. High-quality nutrition education and access is essential for increasing food security, preventing diet-related disease, and empowering people to take control of their health and well-being.
How We Impact the Community: Local Matters works everyday toward a long-term vision of equitable access to a sustainable food system and a world free of food-related chronic disease. In response to the coronavirus pandemic,Local Matters has facilitated the distribution of more than6,750 grocery boxes and meal kits to individuals and families in need, brought more than $108,000 to Central Ohio for the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables through SNAP and management of the Central Ohio Produce Perks program, and facilitated more than 1,500 healthy food transactions through weekly Veggie Van markets since March 2020.
How You Can Help: Empowering people to access the skills, knowledge, and resources they need to eat well and feed their families on a budget is a critical tool for increasing food security and preventing diet-related disease. It is thanks to generous supporters like you that we are able to run successful programs that bring access to fresh food and nutrition education, delivered with dignity, to thousands of families in our community. Your support helps LocalMatters bring grocery boxes to families in need; plant and harvest food from our community gardens; provide virtual cooking classes for people with diabetes and other diet-related diseases, and much more.
Connect with Local Matters
633 Parsons Avenue
Columbus, OH 43206
614-263-5662
Donate: www.local-matters.org/donate
Executive Director: Michelle Moskowitz Brown
Email: mmbrown@local-matters.org
Development Director: Adam Fazio
Email: afazio@local-matters.org
Board Chair: Lori Hunter Overmyer
