Instacart, together with Partnership for a Healthier America, Building Bridges Across the River, and Martha’s Table have launched Good Food at Home in DC. The program will provide 500 Washington, D.C. families in Wards 7 and 8 with a $60 monthly Instacart Health Fresh Funds stipend to buy fresh fruits and vegetables as well as free grocery delivery.
Residents of D.C.’s Wards 7 and 8 face the highest rates of food insecurity due to challenges accessing nutritious food, including affordability, availability, and transportation, according to a report cited by Instacart. In fact, in Wards 7 and 8, there are just three full-service grocery stores serving 150,000 residents compared to eight full-service grocery stores serving 84,000 residents in Ward 3.
“The District has a longstanding history of food insecurity, and far too many Washingtonians struggle to access affordable, nutritious food options. This collaboration between Instacart, Partnership for a Healthier America, and local nonprofit leaders underscores the power of public and private partnerships in addressing this critical issue,” said D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb in a statement. “Now, hundreds of Ward 7 and 8 families will have access to healthier foods, which is a critical step towards closing this equity gap in communities east of the River.”
This initiative is part of PHA’s Good Food at Home program, which provides families facing access barriers to nutritious food with fresh produce, and Instacart Health, a business initiative from Instacart that leverages the power of Instacart’s platform, products and partnerships to expand access to nutritious food, inspire sustainable healthy choices, and scale food as medicine programs across the country. Instacart has made a larger commitment with PHA to bring 10 million servings of produce to nutrition insecure families across the U.S. over the next three years.
“For one in six Americans, healthy food is too expensive, too far away, or both,” said Noreen Springstead, president and CEO of PHA, in a statement. “This new phase of our Good Food at Home program will not only connect DC families with healthy food in the short-term, but we know from our work in previous cities that it will also help to build long term, healthy habits of fruit & vegetable consumption.”
Washington, DC is the second city to launch the Good Food at Home program. Earlier this year, PHA, Instacart, and Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett partnered to bring the program to Indianapolis and provided 600 local families with three months of Fresh Funds stipends and complimentary Instacart+ membership.
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