Pioneering Food Access Solutions: Instacart Partners with Montgomery County to Support Hundreds of Families & Combat Childhood Hunger

At Instacart, we’re deeply committed to using our technology to solve some of the most complex, longstanding food access challenges facing families and communities across North America. Today, we’re thrilled to share a groundbreaking new initiative that exemplifies what’s possible when the private and public sectors come together around a common goal. 

Instacart has partnered with Montgomery County, Maryland — one of the largest counties in the United States, just outside the nation’s capital — to help develop and launch a first-of-its-kind program leveraging online grocery technology and public funding to fight childhood hunger and support families caught in an important but sometimes overlooked “SNAP Gap.”

Often, that term refers to those eligible but not enrolled in the federal nutrition assistance program. But there’s another “SNAP Gap” that’s widening across the country — this one referring to families that earn a little too much to (or otherwise do not) qualify for federal assistance, but don’t earn enough to consistently afford nutritious food. It’s a predicament faced by a growing number of families across the country amid inflation and other economic pressures — and it means even more children face food insecurity. Today, one in every five children in the United States don’t have enough to eat. 

It’s these families and their children that this new program is built to support. 

Through the program, nearly 600 Montgomery County families — with collectively more than 1,000 children — that fall into this gap recently signed up and started receiving monthly Instacart Health Fresh Funds stipends. The online grocery stipends can be redeemed via Instacart to purchase nutritious food and other grocery essentials for pickup or delivery from local retailers they know and trust. Families will receive $100 per month in Instacart Health Fresh Funds for each child under the age of 18 (up to $400 per month in grocery stipends) for a full year. 

The county has also rolled out a custom Virtual Storefront on Instacart to encourage program participants to purchase nutritious foods and help build healthy habits. 

The program represents a trailblazing investment of up to $1.8 million by the County to tap the power of online grocery and delivery to support families living with food insecurity but ineligible for more traditional assistance programs. By providing families with both public financial support and technological access to more easily put food on the table, this new program is helping alleviate childhood hunger and breaking down barriers that have historically impeded the health and wellness of vulnerable communities. 

The program represents the largest Instacart Health government partnership to date. It’s also the first program in the country to see a government provide online food stipends directly to families living with food insecurity via Instacart.  

This collaboration with Montgomery County shows how local expertise and government ingenuity — when combined with cutting-edge Instacart Health technology — can create sustainable solutions that transform lives. And it shows technology is ready to meet the moment for government leaders seeking innovative and impactful solutions to food insecurity challenges that have for too long plagued many of their constituents. 

While every state, county, and municipality faces unique food access challenges, this partnership between Instacart and Montgomery County represents a model that can be tailored and replicated to support families living with lower incomes and other vulnerable populations in communities across the country. We stand ready to work with any government leader who shares our commitment to expanding food access and improving health outcomes for those most in need. 

Through barrier-breaking public-private partnerships like these, we can help end childhood hunger and foster more equitable access to nutritious food in every community.

Casey Aden-Wansbury

Author

Casey is Vice President of Policy & Government Affairs at Instacart, where she leads Instacart’s Policy & Government Affairs Department. Prior to joining Instacart Casey spent five years at Airbnb, primarily as Director of Federal Affairs, where she led engagement with Congress, federal agencies and other major national policy stakeholders. Before Airbnb, Casey spent nearly twenty years working in federal government and national politics. As chief of staff to U.S. Senator Al Franken (D-MN), she served as the Senator’s lead strategic advisor, leading all aspects of the Senator’s legislative, communications, constituent and political operations during his first term. Casey also served as Communications Director to two U.S. Senators and has a total of 12 years of Senate experience. Outside of government, Casey served as Communications Director for the Children’s Defense Fund and held communications positions on three presidential campaigns, and three national political conventions.