DC Central Kitchen (DCCK), located in Washington, DC, is a nonprofit and social enterprise that is working to end hunger through community-based programs and job training and creation. The organization recently received a four-year grant to make nutritious foods more accessible through their Healthy Corners program.
Launched in 2011, the Healthy Corners program is designed to increase accessibility to healthier food options in areas without grocery stores, particularly neighborhoods affected by food apartheid. The $US890,000 grant from the US Department of Agriculture’s Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) will help DCCK scale the program at a time when eaters are grappling with elevated food prices.
“Healthy Corners is the ultimate myth busting food access program. “There is evidence that small businesses want to be part of a healthier, more sustainable community and that low-income consumers are interested and want to put healthy food on the table for themselves and their families,” Alexander Moore, Chief Development Officer at DCCK tells Food Tanks.
To promote affordable alternatives, the program offers store owners produce at wholesale prices and delivers fresh and frozen vegetables in smaller quantities than traditional distributors typically offer. The Healthy Corners program works with 54 participating corner stores, providing distribution and technical assistance.
DCCK aims to utilize the funding to purchase and transport more products from local farmers while involving more community members through outreach and nutrition education initiatives.
At 33 of the participating stores, produce incentives are offered through the SNAP Match initiative, launched by Healthy Corners in 2018. Customers who purchase one piece of produce included in their initial SNAP-eligible transaction, receive $US5.00 coupons for fresh and frozen produce. DCCK reports that the incentive program has been a success since the beginning, spurring a 162 percent increase in sales.
DCCK will distribute the funds from the grant directly to SNAP customers through the SNAP Match initiative, supporting the organization in its mission to reach and serve 20,000 food insecure households annually.
“What we’re doing is putting money right in the hands of consumers to make a market-based choice,” Moore tells Food Tank. “This grant and this model of nutrition incentive programming, allows us to provide additional resources to people who want to make a healthy choice, but don’t have the financial flexibility to do so.”
In the last year, Healthy Corners achieved rapid growth, with a 16 percent increase in overall sales. In addition, they saw a 70 percent boost in local produce and product sales because of strong partnerships with regional farmers and food organizations.
According to Moore, Healthy Corners also goes beyond accessibility gaps, working to reduce as many challenges for store owners as possible. “The program has been trying to move with our community to help us understand what products are going to sell, how do we present them in a way that’s going to be appealing, culturally relevant, and provide recipe options that are rooted in what people want to eat and can actually access from their corner store.”
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Photo courtesy of DC Central Kitchen