Words by Tess Becker
Food insecurity is becoming more prevalent in the US as the cost of groceries continues to rise. But in Boston, people dealing with those issues may go to a doctor and come out with a prescription for fruits and vegetables – later receiving a card called Fresh Connect, that helps them buy some of the foods they need.
The card was created by the Boston area non-profit, About Fresh, and it’s designed as a tool to help prevent and treat disease and to help people who struggle to afford healthy food.
How does it work?
“The reason healthcare needs to get in the game, driving billions of dollars of avoidable costs, is simply because people don’t have the money in the bank to afford all the foods that they need,” says Josh Trautwein, co-founder and CEO of About Fresh.
The most common food purchasing tool for low-income Americans is the SNAP program, but it doesn’t always cover the costs of the healthy foods that people need. In a U.S. Department of Agriculture study, around 88% of people receiving SNAP benefits struggled to get some of the healthy foods they need.
The Fresh Connect card hopes to fill that gap.
When paying at a register the Fresh Connect card will automatically pay for produce before you go on to pay for the rest of your groceries. The amounts vary but most people receive around $100 a month.
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