A Fresh Approach: Instacart and PHA Enhance Access to Nutritious Food Across the Country

We’re unwavering in our commitment to using Instacart to ensure all of our communities have access to nutritious food, and today, we’re proud to share a significant milestone in our journey. In partnership with Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), the nation’s leading nonprofit working to improve the food landscape in pursuit of health equity, we’ve leveraged our Instacart Health Fresh Funds to connect families across the country in under-resourced communities with more than five million servings of fresh fruits and vegetables. The milestone continues to propel us forward toward our shared commitment to offer 10 million servings of produce by 2025, a goal we set as part of the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in 2022.

Today we’re unveiling the results from the most recent four cities that participated in PHA’s Good Food at Home initiative. We also announced that we’ve expanded the Good Food at Home program to three new cities this month: Chicago; New Orleans; and Wichita, Kansas, furthering our mission to connect more families with the fresh and nutritious food they need to live well. 

Launched in late 2023 to support more than 1,100 families in Denver; Englewood, New Jersey; Milwaukee; and Washington, D.C., the Good Food at Home program offered $60 in monthly Fresh Funds produce credits and an Instacart+ membership to help expand access to fresh produce in under-resourced communities. Results from the four cities speak volumes about the transformative power of the program to not only expand access to fresh produce, but also foster lasting healthy habit adoption:

• 59% of survey respondents reported that they ate fruits and vegetables more often;
• 85% said Fresh Funds allowed them to buy more fruits and vegetables than they can usually afford; 
• 87% said Fresh Funds helped them build a healthy habit of eating more fruits and vegetables; 
• And 86% said Fresh Funds empowered them to provide good food for their families, giving them the dignity to choose the items that best fit their unique preferences.

The value Instacart provided participants also strongly resonated:

• 88% liked the convenience of online shopping; 
• 87% liked the overall shopping experience provided on Instacart;
• 80% reported that online grocery shopping through Instacart saved them time;
• And more than half said they are likely to continue using Instacart because of the benefits our platform provides.

Leveraging the Instacart Health Wallet, participants ordered fresh produce using their Fresh Funds as well as other nutritious foods and pantry staples with their SNAP benefits. Online ordering using SNAP benefits significantly increased (from 73% to 83%) from before to after the program. Instacart offers online SNAP acceptance from nearly 180 retail banners across more than 30,000 stores in all 50 states and Washington, D.C, reaching nearly 98% of U.S. households enrolled in SNAP. 

Given the positive feedback and demonstrable impact, we’re proud to expand the Good Food at Home program to three additional cities, where more than 1,000 new families will receive $60 a month in Fresh Funds for three months to purchase fresh produce from local grocers via Instacart.

Our work with PHA on the Good Food at Home program has shown the clear and lasting impact of Instacart Health Fresh Funds on improving nutrition security and encouraging healthy eating habits. Together, we’re not just transforming access; we’re empowering families to make more informed, healthier choices that will benefit them well into the future. Through our Instacart Health initiative and dedicated partnerships – like this one – we can ensure that everyone has access to the nutritious food they need to live a healthy life.

To learn more about our partnership with PHA, you can read the full press release here. 

Dani Dudeck

Author

Dani Dudeck is the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Instacart.