Promoting resilience through food, family, & movement.

Three images: A family cooking vegetables in the kitchen, a diverse group of people jogging outdoors in a park, and children laughing and playing indoors.

We believe every family deserves the chance to grow, play, and thrive.

By working together with communities and partners, we’re creating lasting policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) changes that makes health more accessible in rural communities.

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Girl wearing pink shirt holding fresh vegetables, including carrots, radishes, and leafy greens, in a garden or greenhouse.

Nutrition Access

  • Healthy ROOTS partners with Ripe for Revival, a local nonprofit that operates weekly “pay-what-you-can” mobile markets in communities with limited access to fresh, affordable food. Leveraging funding from Danone Institute of North America, our program distributes produce vouchers to eligible community members to improve access to affordable, healthy food in 8 project counties.

  • PhytoRx Families is an innovative produce prescription program that is designed to enhance nutritional care delivery, improve health, and decrease healthcare costs among food-insecure rural communities. This program incorporates nutrition training for medical providers, home delivery of fresh produce, and nutrition education for families in rural eastern North Carolina.

  • Healthy ROOTS partners with Steps to Health’s Healthy Food Pantry Program to train staff and volunteers working at food pantries in our project counties. The training program reviews inventory and distribution model methods, Supporting Wellness at Pantries (SWAP), culturally and nutritionally appropriate foods and donations, nutrition nudges and bundling, nutrition education and food demonstrations, and local community resource connections.

Strategy Areas

Two people riding bicycles on a forest trail surrounded by tall green trees and lush foliage.

Physical Activity (PA) Access

  • Healthy ROOTS developed a follow-up resource website that offers a comprehensive, step-by-step toolkit designed to support NC Extension professionals and community partners in moving from walkability assessments to actionable infrastructure improvements. It provides a structured roadmap, funding guidance, resources, technical assistance, and case studies to help communities plan, fund, implement, and evaluate projects that enhance pedestrian safety, connectivity, and overall walkability.

  • The Youth and Adult Partnership (YAP) Collaborative is an initiative that supports 4-H Agents/Program Assistants in strengthening physical activity and active living programming through meaningful youth–adult partnerships. In summer 2025, Agents from 2 project counties project counties participated in the first cohort by engaging in a three-part workshop series led by Dr. Corliss Outley (Clemson University) and received coaching to develop an action plan for a youth–adult partnership project.

A group of children and adults gathered outdoors, sitting and standing around a small garden bed, possibly engaging in a planting activity.

Early Care & Education (ECE)

  • Farm to ECE enhances the health and education of young children by developing systems and experiential learning that connect children and their families with local food. Farm to ECE usually includes activities related to food-based learning, gardening, and local food procurement. Healthy ROOTS promotes Farm to ECE activities in project counties primarily through food-based learning and establishing fruit and vegetable gardens at Head Start centers.

  • Go NAPSACC is an evidence-based tool that helps ECE programs assess current practices, set goals, and implement improvements related to nutrition, physical activity, screen time, and breastfeeding support. Healthy ROOTS uses Go NAPSACC to support Head Start centers by guiding staff through structured self-assessments and action planning to make sustainable policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) changes that promote healthy behaviors among children and families.