Produce in a SNAP is launching in North Carolina!

At Hungry Harvest, we’re hitting the ground running this January with some exciting new news about the hunger-fighting work we’re doing in the Triangle area. In honor of our one year anniversary in North Carolina, we're pleased to announce that we are opening our first Produce in a SNAP community produce market in the state through our partnership with the Fresh Produce Program at Duke Outpatient Clinic!

Produce in a SNAP is a series of reduced-cost community produce markets, supported by Hungry Harvest subscribers, through which we provide access to fresh, affordable produce to families and individuals with limited food access, either geographically or financially. Our markets feature a variety of fruits and veggies on a weekly basis that are roughly 50% cheaper than grocery store prices.

We have had great success in addressing food access and hunger in Maryland over the last 2 years with this program. In 2018, we sold 17,000 bags of reduced-cost produce, serving over 3% of the food insecure population in Baltimore, through our network of 20 produce markets. We are so excited to be bringing this model to North Carolina on January 24th!

Hunger-fighting solutions like PIAS are so critical right now because the face of hunger across this country has changed. Millions of working Americans don’t know where their next meal is coming from and 39% of college students report living in food insecurity. They lack access to healthy food and they aren’t being served by traditional hunger solutions. We’re fixing that. Produce in a SNAP finds these food access gaps and bridges them with inclusive, community produce markets offering fresh fruits and vegetables at an affordable price.

We create a convenient and empowering shopping experience by accepting cash, credit or SNAP/EBT for our discounted bags of produce, priced at $7 (around 50% less than grocery).

We’re thrilled to partner with the Fresh Produce Program at Duke Outpatient Clinic to ensure that our first PIAS market in North Carolina is a success. The Fresh Produce Program started in 2017 and was designed to address Durham’s food insecurity by providing free bags of produce to food insecure patients at the local Duke Outpatient Clinic. They strive to reduce produce waste in the local food system by redirecting the produce to patients with chronic diet-related illnesses who need them most; with the hope of improving their health outcomes.

Together, we hope to expand their reach by providing them with quality rescued produce that customers can buy at a discounted rate using their SNAP benefits.

Learn more about the work Hungry Harvest does to support this food access initiative here.