An innovative fresh fruit and vegetable voucher program all about dignity, choice and nutrition
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An innovative fresh fruit and vegetable voucher program all about dignity, choice and nutrition
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity in Australia has dramatically increased and the demand for food relief has doubled. Within a year, the number of food-insecure people accessing food relief rose from 15% to 31% in Australia. Food insecurity overwhelmingly impacts groups already facing systemic barriers, including single-parent households, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, senior citizens and people experiencing homelessness. The Community Grocer witnessed firsthand the need for improved access to high-quality fruit and vegetables, particularly for those accessing emergency food relief. Our pre-existing paper-based voucher program, in partnership with a local community health organisation, Cohealth, saw over a fourfold increase in use during the pandemic.
Over the past year, the Community Grocer has partnered with Monash University to undertake an extensive research review of the existing literature on international food security programs with a focus on fruit and vegetable voucher schemes. This research was initiated as a result of COVID-19. In response, The Community Grocer has developed the ‘Grocer Gift Card Program’ which aims to address the overwhelming need for a sustainable and dignified way to access nutritious food for people experiencing disadvantage.
The Community Grocer is a not-for-profit social enterprise that runs affordable fresh fruit and vegetable markets to support healthy connected communities. We use vibrant and inclusive marketplace settings in targeted locations to address the physical and economic barriers to fresh food access, which also create a sense of community and social inclusion. We believe that there needs to be an appropriate, dignified and sustainable approach to addressing food insecurity in Australia. It’s crucial that our role within this approach is based on existing scientific evidence and the needs of our communities.
The Grocer Gift Program, which is modeled loosely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the United States but tailored to the Australian context, aims to address two major barriers to food security in Australia: lack of physical access to fresh produce and financial constraints. Like SNAP in the US, recipients will be provided with funds in the form of a Grocer Gift Card with a unique QR code. The Grocer Gift Card can be redeemed at The Community Grocer’s fresh produce markets, which are open to everyone. By modeling Grocer Gift on SNAP, we expect that we will be able to enable recipients across Victoria, who are assessed by our community partners, access to culturally appropriate and nutritious food for their household in a dignified and inclusive marketplace setting.
While many local organisations have access to funds to provide their community members with food relief, often the labour involved in preparing food hampers or sourcing affordable and high-quality food items (particularly fresh food) is significant. In addition, despite best intentions, traditional food relief presents challenges relying on donations where food provided is unfamiliar, can’t create whole meals, can’t be stored properly, or is of poor quality. Using vouchers (or Grocer Gift Cards) allows recipients to choose their produce in a marketplace setting, ensuring the food they take home with them is familiar, culturally appropriate, and can be prepared or cooked using their available resources, knowledge and skills.
The Community Grocer model is founded on the importance of partnerships that strengthen our communities’ sense of ownership over the markets. Partnerships are also crucial to Grocer Gift. Our community partners are the ones that can conduct assessment intakes for their clients, determining their needs and distributing Grocer Gift Cards where appropriate. This allows both us and our community partners to do what we do best.
Our web platform generates QR codes that correspond to Grocer Gift Card values. These are then able to be printed onto business cards as physical gift cards or can be transferred into a purely online template that can then be emailed to recipients. Grocer Gift Cards can then be redeemed at The Community Grocer’s markets, presented at point of sale just like cash or card. Grocer Gift Cards can be redeemed in part or in full, giving more flexibility for recipients to purchase what they really want week to week.
The Community Grocer uses a social enterprise model and purchases top-quality produce for sale each week, using only a community mark-up. This means fruit and vegetables purchased with the Grocer Gift Card are high quality and affordable.
Using Grocer Gift Cards allows recipients to choose their produce in a marketplace setting, ensuring the food they take home with them is familiar, culturally appropriate, and can be prepared or cooked using their available resources, knowledge and skills.
Our community partners also know that their funding is stretching further, with their clients able to purchase more fruit and vegetables with their Grocer Gift Card.
Our markets are welcoming and inclusive, open to everyone.
Our community partners are the ones that are distributing Grocer Gift Cards based on need, after conducting assessments for their clients. There are many underlying factors contributing to food insecurity and many of these impact on other areas of life. These community partners are providing more than food relief, and we know recipients of the Grocer Gift Cards are receiving full support.
We’re currently conducting a pilot with our community partner Cohealth at our Fitzroy and Carlton markets, refining what it looks like in practice and collecting preliminary impact data. We plan on rolling Grocer Gift out further with additional community partners in the second half of 2021.
If you’re interested in being a Community Partner or further funding this program, please email us at hello@thecommunitygrocer.com.au.