USDA Nutrition Hub

The Southern University Ag Center and USDA Partner to Establish the First Ever Agricultural Science Center of Excellence for Nutrition and Diet (ASCEND) Nutrition Hub!

On January 31, 2023, USDA partnered together with SUAREC and the 1890 Center of Excellence (COE) for Nutrition, Health, Wellness, and Quality of Life to hold an ASCEND for Better Health community engagement event focused on food, nutrition, and health related outcomes in African American communities. The event was extremely successful and attended by more than 120 community members, small farmers, and students. During the event, participants shared invaluable feedback on ways to promote healthy eating within their community. Capitalizing on feedback from the community, USDA is partnering with the Southern University Ag Center to create the first ever USDA Nutrition Hub.

The USDA Nutrition Hub will work to define a new architecture to better integrate and coordinate the collective work of Research, Extension and Education agencies to improve food and nutrition security and reduce the burden of diet-related chronic diseases, especially in underserved, at-risk communities. The following are the overarching goals that will guide the work of the USDA Nutrition Hub:

1. Build current and future workforce capacity for trans-disciplinary approaches between Research and Extension;
2. Develop collaborations and partnerships with organizations that serve the African American communities to better understand the real-world opportunities and challenges around food, nutrition, and diet-related health disparities;
3. Develop and disseminate science-based nutrition information and connect communities with food and nutrition security and economic vitality programs;
4. Foster research and training opportunities in human nutrition research, particularly in underserved and underrepresented communities.

The USDA Nutrition Hub will also offer nutrition-related information at the community level, especially to communities impacted by diet-related chronic diseases such as obesity, Type II diabetes and certain cancers; share nutrition information and connect communities with programs; develop partnerships with organizations that serve Black communities and define community needs about food and nutrition; research human nutrition, particularly in underserved and underrepresented communities and build a workforce to increase partnerships between researchers and those working in community nutrition and health.