Allowing one in three American families to go hungry during the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t a choice we have to make. Through pivots and innovations big or small, see how communities came together to ensure no family goes hungry.
With the unprecedented surge in SNAP enrollment, we saw usage of healthy food incentive programs like Double Up Food Bucks soar.
In our home state of Michigan…
To make the Michigan Double Up program work harder for families in need, we temporarily lifted the $20/day earning limit to provide families more food dollars. Over the year, we also brought on 26 new sites. Finally, we ramped up marketing efforts to reach families on SNAP — many for the first time in their lives — including launching a new partnership with the Detroit Lions.
And beyond.
Nationwide, we grew our support of nutrition incentive programs through the Nutrition Incentive Hub, a USDA-designated coalition that launched this year in partnership with Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition. Fair Food Network is honored to lead technical assistance and innovation for the Nutrition Incentive Hub to a growing number of USDA-supported nutrition incentive and produce prescription projects.
As part of this work, $850,000 in grants were awarded to support capacity building and field innovations as well as pivots in response to COVID. The ideas were inspiring: From helping more farmers markets accept SNAP (or food stamps) and Double Up in rural and tribal communities in North and South Dakota to launching a mobile market delivery in rural Mississippi, groups showed continued creativity and resilience as they worked to adapt to and meet local needs.
