North Center's Common Pantry Provides Free Nutritional Education Amid Increased Demand

Produce prescription programs like FreshRx Oklahoma and Recipe4Health are taking off as ways to combat heart problems and other diseases like diabetes. These programs provide free fruits and veggies to participants, helping increase access to healthy foods and address food insecurity. Research over the course of a year shows Recipe4Health participants significantly lowered their cholesterol and food security rates among participants dropped from 59% to 48%.

Double Up Food Bucks offers dollar-for-dollar matching of up to $10 daily for fresh fruits and vegetables for those enrolled in SNAP. The program addresses affordability issues that historically prevented people from accessing fresh, nutritious foods. Double Up Food Bucks works with more than 250 grocery stores throughout the state to provide widespread access to fresh produce.

The Grocery Spot is a free grocery store where residents can access redistributed food from local pantries and for-profit grocery stores that have more than they can sell. The Grocery Spot addresses food waste and access, providing more than 140,000 pounds of free food to more than 600 families each week.

The Lagos Food Bank Initiative works to address hunger and malnutrition among those in need and reduce food waste. It offers several programs including temporary food assistance, nutritious meal interventions, and family farming among others. Since it was founded in 2016, the organization has expanded its efforts and now has 17,000 volunteers across the country and has helped more than two million people.

Project Bread is a local food-assistance organization that provides medically-tailored meals to people in need, specifically those with diseases or ailments that worsen with poor nutrition. Organization coordinators can send grocery store gift cards and kitchen supplies or sign the patient up for cooking classes or nutrition counseling. In its first two years, the program served 5,000 patients, and a recent evaluation found that 25% were no longer food insecure after participating for six months.

The Resource Connect program began in 2019 and works to connect families with children in need with necessary resources like food, diapers, and school supplies. The point is to address the factors outside the doctor’s office that affect children’s health. In the three years since it opened, Resource Connect has helped 4,235 patients get social services.

The Greater Cleveland Food Bank, and other food banks across the country, are working to provide more comprehensive services for the food-insecure people they serve; those services include partnering with community organizations to help with employment, health care, and housing.

California's farm-to-school grant program, launched in 2021, has successfully directed 100% of its funding to small and disadvantaged farmers. This has helped them expand their businesses through investments like refrigerated vans and partnerships with food hubs, enabling fresh local produce delivery to schools across the state.

The Community Produce Program organized by the Heart & Soil Collective delivers weekly produce to seniors in need. Not only does the program increase food access, but it also provides seniors with community, wellness checks, and friendships that they struggle to access otherwise.

Mobile delivery increases the accessibility of summer meal programs for children who rely on food assistance during the school year. Across the country, multiple initiatives by local governments, schools, nonprofits, and faith-based organizations are working to extend participation in summer meal programs. Many of these programs receive support from the USDA, but additional grants have allowed organizations to extend their range of delivery, as have partnerships with food trucks and transportation services.