Common Council

Wholesome Wave Funds Pilot Fruit and Veggie Prescription Program

The City of Madison, in partnership with Public Health Madison & Dane County, the Willy Street Co-op, UW Health's Northeast Family Medical Center, and Second Harvest Food Bank's HungerCare Coalition has just been awarded a $23,120 grant from Wholesome Wave, the national nonprofit working to help Americans in poverty afford fruits and vegetables. The grant, one of nine that Wholesome Wave has awarded nationally, chosen from over 100 applications, will specifically fund a Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program Pilot at the Northeast Family Medical Center on the City's north side.

Under the local pilot program, patients at UW Health Northeast Family Medical Center, located a block from Willy Street Co-op-North, will qualify for aid to help them join the Co-op and buy extra fresh fruits and vegetables if health care providers determine that food security is a concern for the patient. The pilot starts February 1, ends December 31, and will support nearly 150 patients.

"I'm extremely pleased that the City of Madison was awarded a Wholesome Wave grant to implement a Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program," said Madison Mayor Paul Soglin. "By collaborating with partners at Public Health Madison & Dane County, Willy Street Co-op, Second Harvest Foodbank, and UW Health's Northeast Family Medical Clinic, the City continues to illustrate how government and the community can work hand-in-hand to increase the well-being and health of all of our residents."

The City of Madison is in excellent company. Fellow awardees across the country including New York's GrowNYC, the Maryland Farmers Market Association, and Fresh Approach in San Francisco, will launch and grow innovative pilots that creatively use "nutrition incentives", bonus dollars for fresh produce, to address food insecurity with access to nutritious food. Winning projects include produce prescriptions from physicians, mobile markets, projects serving Medicaid patients and soup kitchen clients and even the development of a brick-and-mortar store specifically offering affordable healthy options to low-income shoppers.

Kirsten Moore, Director of Cooperative Services, said the FVRx coupons can be used in conjunction with other sales and coupons, including those redeemed via another new Co-op program, known as Double Dollars, when a customer shops at any of the Co-op's three locations. The new programs show the Co-op "is invested in continuing to expand the ways in which we can help address food security in Dane County," Moore said. "In addition to our established Access Discount Program, we are excited to work with our public and private partners to test new programs like Double Dollars and FVRx."

ABOUT WHOLESOME WAVE
Wholesome Wave is a nonprofit working to make locally-grown fruits and vegetables more affordable for the people who need it most. When the millions of Americans struggling with poverty eat more fruits and vegetables, we see immediate improvements for families and farmers--and enormous long-term gains for public health, local economies, and the environment. Our innovative initiatives serve hundreds of thousands of under-served consumers, as well as thousands of farmers annually, in 46 states and counting. www.wholesomewave.org