Introducing the Nutrition Navigator, a Free Multi-Language Mapping Resource Built to Empower Food Communities in the Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Regions
Online tool, originally created by the Bainum Family Foundation, will be overseen by The Food Trust with community-based support from the Montgomery County Food Council
Formerly known as the Food Learning Locator, the map was initially launched by the Maryland-based Bainum Family Foundation in 2017 with a goal of connecting people to food-related community education and job training programs in their own communities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, while many in-person programs were suspended and organizations pivoted in response to the crisis, the map went into hibernation, and the Foundation began its strategic process of identifying a new permanent home for the site.
In the spring of 2022, The Food Trust emerged as a natural partner to transition the site, expanding its geographic scope to the Philadelphia region and broadening its programmatic offerings to include points of access to healthy food as well as nutrition incentive redemption and distribution sites. In addition to an expanded focus on healthy food access, the new site allows users to navigate in any language. Expanded filters also allow users to search by language offered (e.g., Spanish, Vietnamese), specialized audience (e.g., seniors, caregivers) and by venue (e.g., farmers markets, houses of worship).
To strengthen local connections, The Food Trust has also formally established a vital partnership with the Maryland-based Montgomery County Food Council, which will act as the local, on-the-ground partner to help manage and expand the Navigator’s offerings for the D.C. area. As a key bridge builder for businesses, nonprofits, government agencies and residents, with many existing connections in the Navigator network, Montgomery County Food Council is extremely well positioned to support the project through this next phase. We believe that the Nutrition Navigator will prove to be a valuable tool for our partners and the general public. We encourage you to submit your program to be featured on the map and help us make this tool even more comprehensive. With the official launch of the map, we are eager to feature partners like you on it. The type of programs/organizations/businesses that will appear on the map fall into one or more of the following categories:
- Find Healthy, Local Food Near Me (Non-emergency food): Any location that offers expanded fruit & vegetable options and/or farm-fresh products, such as farmers markets and co-ops, or corner stores offering fresh produce, a healthy checkout aisle, etc.
- Learn About Food & Nutrition: Any location that hosts nutrition education and/or health screenings
- Stretch My Food Budget: Any location that issues or accepts nutrition incentives, such as Food Bucks
- Train for Food and Farming Jobs: Any location that offers culinary or agriculture-related job training, or offers kitchen space for food business startups
We kindly request you to share information about the map with your contacts to help populate this wonderful resource for the community. Please click here to watch a recording on how to submit your program to be on the map! If you have any questions or encounter any issues during the program submission process or while using the Nutrition Navigator, please email info@mocofoodcounil.org!
