Lake County  
         Healthy Food Access  
         Community  
         Assessment and Report 
                                                                             
                Lake County  
                Healthy Food Access 
                Community  
                Assessment and Report  
                 
                Submitted to: 
                Emily Olsen and Katie Baldassar  
                Lake County Build a Generation  
                March 2019 
                 
                For more information, please contact: 
                Eden Griffin, PhD 
                egriffin@omni.org  
                (303) 839-9422 ext. 154 
                Acknowledgements 
                The OMNI Institute wishes to thank Lake County Food Access Coalition, The Lake County Public 
                Health Agency and Lake County Build a Generation for their partnership and funding of this 
                assessment.  
                OMNI Contributors 
                Eden Griffin, Ona Crow, Paola Molina, Ivonne Parra, Cindy Vigil, Holen Hirsh, Jean Denious                                  
                                                                                                                    
                 
       Table of Contents 
       Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................................1 
       Introduction.........................................................................................................................................................7 
       The Food Environment in Lake County ..........................................................................................................7 
        Food Retail ............................................................................................................................................................ 7 
        Community Meals, Food Pantries and Food Bank...................................................................................... 8 
        Primary Food-Focused Agencies ..................................................................................................................... 8 
       Methods ..............................................................................................................................................................9 
       Key Findings ..................................................................................................................................................... 10 
        Lake County’s Food System ........................................................................................................................... 10 
         Key Organizations in the Food System ................................................................................................... 10 
         Strengths of Lake County's Food System ............................................................................................... 11 
         Weaknesses of Lake County's Food System ......................................................................................... 13 
         Populations that are Underutilizing Resources ...................................................................................... 15 
        SNAP Program in Lake County ...................................................................................................................... 17 
         Strengths of the SNAP Program in Lake County .................................................................................. 17 
         Weaknesses of the SNAP Program in Lake County ............................................................................. 19 
        Access to Healthy Food in Lake County ..................................................................................................... 27 
         What is Working about Accessing Healthy Food for Community Members ................................ 27 
         What are the Challenges and Barriers to Accessing Healthy Food for Community Members 28 
       Recommendations ........................................................................................................................................... 32 
        Broader Food System ....................................................................................................................................... 32 
        SNAP Program ................................................................................................................................................... 34 
        Cloud City Farm ................................................................................................................................................. 36 
        Food Access Coalition ...................................................................................................................................... 37 
       Next Steps ........................................................................................................................................................ 38 
       Appendix A: Additional Community Resources .......................................................................................... 39 
       Appendix B: Bright Spots ............................................................................................................................... 41 
        SNAP ..................................................................................................................................................................... 41 
        Fresh Food Access ............................................................................................................................................ 42 
        Latinx Outreach ................................................................................................................................................. 44 
        Food Coalition .................................................................................................................................................... 44 
       Appendix C: Participant Demographics ....................................................................................................... 45 
       Appendix D: Assessment Methods and Limitations ................................................................................... 47 
                                                    
        
        Organizational Representative Key Informant Interview Guide ............................................................ 49 
        Focus Group Guides ......................................................................................................................................... 52 
        Community Survey Instrument (English) ..................................................................................................... 60 
        Community Survey Instrument (Spanish) .................................................................................................... 77