Ashton Potter Wright (MPH ’10) has set out to improve the health of residents, as well as the economic health of local food growers, in Central Kentucky.
The evolution of Ashton Potter Wright’s career in public health has taken her from looking at how the food on your plate could make you sick to how it could keep you well.
In June 2014, Wright became the first-ever local food coordinator in Lexington, Ky. Through her program, Bluegrass Farm to Table, Wright seeks to increase collaboration between regional food growers and buyers, stimulate economic development around local food sources by connecting farmers with new markets, and boost access to healthy foods for all Lexington residents.
Wright’s focus on health behavior is a shift from her past work in epidemiology, but she credits Georgia State University for putting her on the path to her dream job.
While earning her MPH at Georgia State’s School of Public Health, Wright worked full-time at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), researching food-borne diseases and investigating outbreaks. For her dissertation, she examined decades of CDC data on salmonella outbreaks associated with eggs.
After completing her MPH, Wright returned to her native Kentucky to pursue a DrPH and shifted her focus to access of healthy foods in urban and rural areas and the impact that had on residents’ health.
“I worked on a couple of farm-to-school projects, and it opened my eyes to the local food movement,” Wright said. She also served on The Tweens Nutrition and Fitness Coalition in Lexington, which sought to increase access to healthy foods and promote physical activity among nine- to 13-year-olds. According to The State of Obesity, a collaborative project of the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Kentucky ranks among the top 10 of states for childhood obesity. (Georgia's rates are a little better, ranking 20th for obesity among children and adults.)
Wright earned her DrPH in 2013 and completed a CDC fellowship as operations manager for First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Child Care campaign.
“There is a common misconception that local foods are inherently more expensive,” Wright said. “Certainly, that could be the case if you only shop at farmers markets, where prices are higher than wholesale prices. But if schools and institutions go to local farmers who can sell to them at wholesale prices, it’s actually quite affordable.”
One year after Lexington Mayor Jim Gray appointed Wright as local food coordinator, she secured a $47,500 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help get local fruits and vegetables into the hands and onto the plates of low-income residents.
Wright said the grant helped the city, along with community partners, to create a program giving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) vouchers to buy local produce.
“Our grant is doubling SNAP benefits up to $10 explicitly for local produce at selected locations,” she said. Those locations include a farmers market, a cooperatively owned grocery store and a corner store in a food desert.
“I never imagined I would have this dream job,” Wright said. “I get to support the local agricultural economy and also get to work toward improving access to healthy food, which can have important public health outcomes.”
See also:
- School Tackles Diabetes, Heart Disease In Atlanta's Minority Communities
- Public Health Prof Helps Georgia's Children Lead Healthier Lives
Photo credits: Ashton Potter Wright, Mary Beth Photography