Panelists:
• Alexandra Ashbrook, director, D.C. Hunger Solutions
• Robin McKinnon, health policy specialist, Risk Factor Monitoring and Methods Branch, National Cancer Institute
• Gregory Mills, senior fellow, Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population, Urban Institute
• Michele Ver Ploeg, economist, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; lead author of a congressionally mandated study of food deserts
• Margery Austin Turner, vice president for research, Urban Institute (moderator)

Three challenging truths in one public policy pod: We are, therefore we must eat. We are what we eat. What we eat -- and how healthy we are -- is influenced by where we can afford to live.

Seven million people in low-income urban neighborhoods live more than a mile from the nearest supermarket, says the Department of Agriculture. Four of Washington, D.C.’s eight wards, for example, have so-called food deserts. In three, more than two-thirds of the residents are overweight or obese and rates of diabetes are in the double digits.

This forum will explore the extent of limited food access in the United States, the health implications of living far from affordable nutritious food, innovative ways to provide healthier food choices, the divide between nutrition education and dietary habits, and more.

At the Urban Institute
2100 M Street N.W., 5th Floor, Washington, D.C.
Lunch will be provided at 11:45 a.m. The forum begins promptly at noon.