Stop & Shop tackles food insecurity in New York’s Bronx neighborhood

Stop & Shop has partnered with the Children's Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) and About Fresh, a platform made to connect healthcare professionals with patients who need healthy food, to launch a pilot program called Fresh Connect. 

Fresh Connect was made to ensure New York’s Bronx neighborhood families have access to well-balanced and nutritional meals,made possible by a $75,000 grant from Stop & Shop, Ahold Delhaize USA’s largest brand, the company said in a release.

The pilot program will provide prepaid debit cards to families so they can buy fresh fruit and vegetables. The pilot is set for six months and will support 100 families identified by pediatricians and community health workers through Montefiore's social needs screening, which takes place at its primary care locations. It also includes some patients receiving care with CHAM's adolescent eating disorder group.

The program comes on the heels of losing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for Americans who were temporarily receiving them during the pandemic. 

Fresh Connect is About Fresh’s  tech-enabled food prescription program that allows  healthcare providers to prescribe fresh produce (referred to as the “food as medicine initiative”). 

Stop & Shop first rolled out the program at its stores in Massachusetts last year, and expanded  to all 400 locations across its northeastern footprint.