UNC Center for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention
Together We
Grow
What We Do
The Food, Fitness, and Opportunity Research Collaborative, FFORC (pronounced ‘fork’), is a research team housed at the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and led by Dr. Molly De Marco. At FFORC, we conduct research and evaluation to build equitable access to healthy foods and opportunities to be physically active. We work to employ participatory community engagement strategies in all our work.
Check out our most recent
community stories!
Read more stories HERE
🚨 SNAP-Ed Funding Update 🚨
SNAP-Ed, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education, was not funded in the 2025 Federal Budget reconciliation process (the One Big Beautiful Bill).
​
We are devastated by this news as this decision puts the future of these programs at risk.
​
Right now, we have funding to operate our current programs through September 30, 2025.
​But without future funding, it is going to be impossible to continue supporting all of our partners at the level that SNAP-Ed funding has allowed us to and we will most likely lose valued staff members.
We are strongly committed to keeping our healthy living initiatives going. We will do everything we can to support our neighbors and communities. We know that SNAP-Ed makes North Carolina healthier. We are proud of the work we have done and the lives we have changed for the better.
In solidarity, the UNC-CH FFORC Team
​
Read more about this funding update HERE | Read more about our impacts HERE. ​​
FFORC and its partner research team, Carolina Hunger Initiative (CHI), are dedicated to reducing health disparities through education, community-based participatory research methods. These initiatives are part of a network of CDC Prevention Research Centers and are funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) SNAP-Ed Program through a partnership with the NC Division of Child and Family Well-being. Our community-driven work has also been generously supported over the years by a diverse range of funders including the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Farm to School Network, and the Aetna Foundation. Their investments have enabled us to advance impactful, collaborative initiatives that address the root causes of health disparities and promote thriving communities.
.png){kind=logo}
