The South Michigan Food Bank, one of seven food banks in the state of Michigan, distributes over 11 million pounds of food each year, providing meals for families and individuals across eight counties. The organization partners with schools, churches, and other nonprofit organizations to set up food pantries and distribute fresh food to those most in need.<\/span><\/h4>\nBut ensuring resources get where they\u2019re most needed is no easy task. One of the main challenges, according to South Michigan Food Bank CEO Peter Vogel, is a lack of data about Michigan residents who could benefit the most from the services the food bank provides and where those residents are located. This can hinder food banks when it comes to making targeted decisions about distributions or obtaining grants.<\/span><\/h4>\n\u201cWe have a lot of options and a lot of locations where people can get food that we\u2019re acquiring,\u201d said Vogel. \u201cBut [there are] those who have transportation challenges and can\u2019t get to those locations. Where are they? How many of them are there?\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\nVogel turned to Dr. Stephen Borders, director of health administration programs at Coastal Carolina University, to help address this. Borders, who had previously worked with the Food Bank Council of Michigan, understood the need for a shift in how food banks acquire and distribute resources, and shared Vogel\u2019s vision for a strategy to combat food insecurity that was driven by geographic data.<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/h4>\n
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The South Michigan Food Bank serves eight counties, distributing over 11 million pounds of food each year.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Borders\u2019 solution was a dashboard, created with ArcGIS Dashboards, that would allow the South Michigan Food Bank to visualize crucial information about the counties it serves\u2014and, therefore, make better-informed choices when it comes to tackling food insecurity in the region.<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/h4>\nFed by Data<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\nThanks in part to an educational grant available to educators in Horry County, South Carolina, Borders was able to enlist the help of Coastal Carolina University students, such as Mackenzie Cannon, who proved invaluable in building and expanding the food bank\u2019s dashboard and were able to come away with plenty of hands-on experience.<\/span><\/h4>\nCannon was new to ArcGIS Dashboards but took to the software quickly. \u201cOnce you figure out all the pieces, it\u2019s really amazing what that program is able to do and how it\u2019s able to help the South Michigan Food Bank,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/h4>\nBeginning in August 2022, Borders and his team began by extracting data from the US Census Bureau, focusing on what would be most useful for the project, including housing burden, poverty, food insecurity, and food deserts\u2014urban areas with a dearth of affordable or high-quality fresh food. The data came from sources such as Feeding America, which generates food insecurity estimates, and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).<\/span><\/h4>\n\u201cWe were just trying to get the data right,\u201d said Borders. \u201cWhat is it that they\u2019re really interested in? What are the key indicators?\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\nFrom there, they used an Excel spreadsheet to import the data into the dashboard and built infographics using ArcGIS Business Analyst to display the data interactively.<\/span><\/h4>\n <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.esrith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Infographic-768x468-1.png\")
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Infographics are vital in displaying the different food insecurity dynamics at play in each census tract.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h4>\n\u201cWe created infographics for every census tract,\u201d said Borders. \u201cOnce you start looking at those, you see that food insecurity is different in Kalamazoo than it is in Battle Creek. Then you get to the rural areas where the dynamics are very different.\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\nTransportation, for instance, is a major issue for residents of rural areas who may be located farther from food pantry locations and one of many factors that needed to be highlighted in the dashboard to best illustrate the needs of each area. By January 2023, the dashboard was ready to go live, and the South Michigan Food Bank hit the ground running.<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/h4>\nFrom Dashboard to Table<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\nOne of the most important functions of the dashboard so far has been to help the food bank scout new locations for food pantries. Existing pantry locations, rather than the areas of highest need, have historically determined how food bank resources are distributed. But being able to visualize data about food insecurity has allowed the South Michigan Food Bank to make more targeted decisions about its distributions, including how frequently they occur.<\/span><\/h4>\nMoreover, the dashboard has been vital from an outreach perspective. Not only is the dashboard instrumental in educating residents and potential partner organizations within the communities the food bank serves, but it has also been a crucial part of seeking new statewide grants that could provide the food bank with resources it hadn\u2019t been able to pursue previously.<\/span><\/h4>\n <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.esrith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Dashboard-with-Legend-768x461-1.png\")
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\u201cWe have a lot of options and a lot of locations where people can get food that we\u2019re acquiring,\u201d said Vogel. \u201cBut [there are] those who have transportation challenges and can\u2019t get to those locations. Where are they? How many of them are there?\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\nVogel turned to Dr. Stephen Borders, director of health administration programs at Coastal Carolina University, to help address this. Borders, who had previously worked with the Food Bank Council of Michigan, understood the need for a shift in how food banks acquire and distribute resources, and shared Vogel\u2019s vision for a strategy to combat food insecurity that was driven by geographic data.<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/h4>\n
<\/p>\n
The South Michigan Food Bank serves eight counties, distributing over 11 million pounds of food each year.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Borders\u2019 solution was a dashboard, created with ArcGIS Dashboards, that would allow the South Michigan Food Bank to visualize crucial information about the counties it serves\u2014and, therefore, make better-informed choices when it comes to tackling food insecurity in the region.<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/h4>\nFed by Data<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\nThanks in part to an educational grant available to educators in Horry County, South Carolina, Borders was able to enlist the help of Coastal Carolina University students, such as Mackenzie Cannon, who proved invaluable in building and expanding the food bank\u2019s dashboard and were able to come away with plenty of hands-on experience.<\/span><\/h4>\nCannon was new to ArcGIS Dashboards but took to the software quickly. \u201cOnce you figure out all the pieces, it\u2019s really amazing what that program is able to do and how it\u2019s able to help the South Michigan Food Bank,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/h4>\nBeginning in August 2022, Borders and his team began by extracting data from the US Census Bureau, focusing on what would be most useful for the project, including housing burden, poverty, food insecurity, and food deserts\u2014urban areas with a dearth of affordable or high-quality fresh food. The data came from sources such as Feeding America, which generates food insecurity estimates, and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).<\/span><\/h4>\n\u201cWe were just trying to get the data right,\u201d said Borders. \u201cWhat is it that they\u2019re really interested in? What are the key indicators?\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\nFrom there, they used an Excel spreadsheet to import the data into the dashboard and built infographics using ArcGIS Business Analyst to display the data interactively.<\/span><\/h4>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Infographics are vital in displaying the different food insecurity dynamics at play in each census tract.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h4>\n\u201cWe created infographics for every census tract,\u201d said Borders. \u201cOnce you start looking at those, you see that food insecurity is different in Kalamazoo than it is in Battle Creek. Then you get to the rural areas where the dynamics are very different.\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\nTransportation, for instance, is a major issue for residents of rural areas who may be located farther from food pantry locations and one of many factors that needed to be highlighted in the dashboard to best illustrate the needs of each area. By January 2023, the dashboard was ready to go live, and the South Michigan Food Bank hit the ground running.<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/h4>\nFrom Dashboard to Table<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\nOne of the most important functions of the dashboard so far has been to help the food bank scout new locations for food pantries. Existing pantry locations, rather than the areas of highest need, have historically determined how food bank resources are distributed. But being able to visualize data about food insecurity has allowed the South Michigan Food Bank to make more targeted decisions about its distributions, including how frequently they occur.<\/span><\/h4>\nMoreover, the dashboard has been vital from an outreach perspective. Not only is the dashboard instrumental in educating residents and potential partner organizations within the communities the food bank serves, but it has also been a crucial part of seeking new statewide grants that could provide the food bank with resources it hadn\u2019t been able to pursue previously.<\/span><\/h4>\n <\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
The South Michigan Food Bank serves eight counties, distributing over 11 million pounds of food each year.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Infographics are vital in displaying the different food insecurity dynamics at play in each census tract.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\nBorders\u2019 solution was a dashboard, created with ArcGIS Dashboards, that would allow the South Michigan Food Bank to visualize crucial information about the counties it serves\u2014and, therefore, make better-informed choices when it comes to tackling food insecurity in the region.<\/span><\/h4>\n
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Fed by Data<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
Thanks in part to an educational grant available to educators in Horry County, South Carolina, Borders was able to enlist the help of Coastal Carolina University students, such as Mackenzie Cannon, who proved invaluable in building and expanding the food bank\u2019s dashboard and were able to come away with plenty of hands-on experience.<\/span><\/h4>\n
Cannon was new to ArcGIS Dashboards but took to the software quickly. \u201cOnce you figure out all the pieces, it\u2019s really amazing what that program is able to do and how it\u2019s able to help the South Michigan Food Bank,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/h4>\n
Beginning in August 2022, Borders and his team began by extracting data from the US Census Bureau, focusing on what would be most useful for the project, including housing burden, poverty, food insecurity, and food deserts\u2014urban areas with a dearth of affordable or high-quality fresh food. The data came from sources such as Feeding America, which generates food insecurity estimates, and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).<\/span><\/h4>\n
\u201cWe were just trying to get the data right,\u201d said Borders. \u201cWhat is it that they\u2019re really interested in? What are the key indicators?\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n
From there, they used an Excel spreadsheet to import the data into the dashboard and built infographics using ArcGIS Business Analyst to display the data interactively.<\/span><\/h4>\n
<\/p>\n<\/h4>\n
\u201cWe created infographics for every census tract,\u201d said Borders. \u201cOnce you start looking at those, you see that food insecurity is different in Kalamazoo than it is in Battle Creek. Then you get to the rural areas where the dynamics are very different.\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n
Transportation, for instance, is a major issue for residents of rural areas who may be located farther from food pantry locations and one of many factors that needed to be highlighted in the dashboard to best illustrate the needs of each area. By January 2023, the dashboard was ready to go live, and the South Michigan Food Bank hit the ground running.<\/span><\/h4>\n
<\/h4>\n
From Dashboard to Table<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
One of the most important functions of the dashboard so far has been to help the food bank scout new locations for food pantries. Existing pantry locations, rather than the areas of highest need, have historically determined how food bank resources are distributed. But being able to visualize data about food insecurity has allowed the South Michigan Food Bank to make more targeted decisions about its distributions, including how frequently they occur.<\/span><\/h4>\n
Moreover, the dashboard has been vital from an outreach perspective. Not only is the dashboard instrumental in educating residents and potential partner organizations within the communities the food bank serves, but it has also been a crucial part of seeking new statewide grants that could provide the food bank with resources it hadn\u2019t been able to pursue previously.<\/span><\/h4>\n
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