Turning Food Deserts into Food Oases Across the Navajo Nation

For the 330,000 people who live on the Navajo Nation, diabetes is a very real threat. In fact, one in three Navajo people is pre-diabetic or diabetic. To address the problem, changemaker Denisa Livingston spearheaded the Healthy Diné Nation Act of 2014 with her community members, introducing a 2% additional sales tax for unhealthy foods. (A complementary law eliminates sales tax on healthy foods with a special emphasis on cultural foods.) What happens to the $3.5 million generated so far? It goes to fund ideas in community-based and community-directed health and wellness. Ashoka’s Alex Vesey caught up with Livingston to learn more.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka/2017/11/06/turning-food-deserts-into-food-oases-across-the-navajo-nation/#75892efd7e11