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Regional Offices Food and Mood Project

About the Project

Since 2019, regional staff from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) — specifically the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) — and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service have been delving deeply into the impact of food on our mood. The Food and Mood Project aims to promote emotional wellness and reduce the impact of mental health and substance use conditions by identifying and implementing strategies that address the intersection between behavioral health, food/nutrition security, traditional foods, and cultural food diversity.

Contact Us

Traci Pole, M.B.A., M.S.
Region 8, Senior Regional Advisor
Byron Rogers Federal Building
1961 Stout Street, 11th Floor
Denver, CO 80294
(303) 844-1205
traci.pole@samhsa.hhs.gov

Please reach out if you’d like to receive the bi-monthly listserve.

Vision

All children, youth, and their families are nourished and thriving, with their nutritional and mental health and wellness needs prioritized and met throughout their communities.

Mission

The Food and Mood project provides leadership and resources – programs, effective interventions, information and data, funding, and personnel – to examine the relationship between nutrition security and mental and substance use disorders across the service delivery continuum to improve public health and achieve wellness.

The team collectively identifies and initiates the implementation of strategies that leverage programs such as the USDA’s Farm to School program and the USDA Indigenous Food Sovereignty Initiative to promote youth emotional wellness and to address behavioral health problems, including those related to food insecurity and lack of access to cultural food.

Goals

The Food and Mood Framework is a tool for orienting individuals and organizations to these shared goals:

  • Recognize the multidimensional elements to health, by taking a whole-person approach.
  • Identify holistic strategies for preventing childhood mental health issues through education, access to healthy and culturally relevant food, and community-driven interventions.
  • Emphasize and promote a comprehensive approach when addressing chronic disease, to include mental health and substance use disorders.
  • Improve access to culturally informed and appropriate food for the creation of health and well-being, not just the absence of disease.
  • Support the development and implementation of evidence-based and culturally appropriate services to reduce the impact of mental health and substance use issues in children, youth, and their families.

Featured Resources

Food and Mood Planning Committee

Last Updated: 02/27/2025
Source: https://samhsa-main-prod-ext-alb-197684657.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com/about/regional-offices/food-and-mood