Donate Now! The Food Trust WHERE WE WORK WHO WE ARE WHAT WE DO GET INVOLVED LEARN ABOUT FOOD ACCESS CONSULTING Bringing Supermarkets to Under-Resourced Communities Across the Country PREVIOUS NEXT ABOUT US Making Healthy Food Available, Accessible and Affordable to All Over the past year, our mission has come into focus more than ever before: Americans need access to nutritious, affordable food, and the information to make healthy decisions. Since 1992, The Food Trust has been working with neighborhoods, schools, grocers, farmers and policymakers on a comprehensive approach to improved food access that combines nutrition education and greater availability of affordable, healthy food. This year and every year, we're tackling food insecurity on the front lines, providing resources to communities in need, and ensuring that no one should have to choose between eating healthy and eating enough. COVID-19 UPDATES Farmers Markets and Food Bucks Farmers markets are essential retail businesses and have remained open throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Visit thefoodtrustmarkets.org for a complete listing of weekly market dates and locations, as well as COVID safety information, preorder and pre-purchase processes. The Food Trust’s Food Bucks network provides a crucial safety net for families relying on SNAP, so we continue distributing these coupons at farmers markets, grocery stores and corner stores. To minimize person-to-person contact and travel for SNAP shoppers, we are working with a local healthcare partner to mail Food Bucks Rx (fruit and vegetable prescriptions) to patients. Nutrition Education With the closure of schools and community sites last year, The Food Trust’s nutrition education team shifted to a virtual learning model. Our Online Learning Hub — which now supplements in-person nutrition education at our sites — serves as a resource center for caregivers, families, educators and individuals, and includes original video content, healthy recipes, recommended physical activities, cooking demonstrations, shopping tips and much more. The site is updated regularly with fresh content to help families active and nourished during these challenging times. Healthy Food Retail and Fresh Food Financing Corner stores and other food retailers faced unprecedented hardships as essential businesses operating during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to the generosity and flexibility of our funders, in 2020-21, we repurposed grant dollars to provide immediate relief to stores. The Food Trust is offering local corner store owners and other small food retailers the opportunity to apply for mini-grants, which will help stores in low-income communities to stay open or reopen, and assist with immediate general operating needs to ensure the safety of their communities and staff. In addition, store owners are being encouraged to apply to the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative (PA FFFI), a statewide funding program managed by The Food Trust, to secure an additional one-time grant and/or loan to increase access to healthy, affordable food in lower-income and underserved communities. The Food Trust is supporting partners with similar grocery financing programs in Massachusetts, Kansas, the Deep South and at the federal level. Our staff are now offering fully remote support for food retailers, as well. We connect with business owners on a regular basis via phone calls and group text messages to share important updates and resources. Staff are also supporting partners to build healthy food retail strategies through COVID-19, providing interactive webinars and training about how to leverage resources and relationships to support stores during these challenging times. If you’re interested in collaborating with The Food Trust on virtual programming, community-based food access or other initiatives, please reach out to contact@thefoodtrust.org. UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANCE OF FOOD ACCESS Everyone Deserves Access to Healthy, Affordable Food "We know that a lot of things contribute to poor nutrition and obesity, but access is a key issue," says Dr. Giridhar Mallya. "People don't have the ability to get healthy foods in their community at an affordable price. That makes it that much harder for them to be healthy overall." At The Food Trust, we work on programs and policies supporting healthy food access wherever food is sold or served. We encourage healthy retail development in underserved communities, teach kids how to eat healthy in schools, host cooking demonstrations at recreation centers, run farmers markets in neighborhoods, support farm to school initiatives, and provide incentives for increased consumption of fruits and vegetables. All of these things combined is what can improve the health of people and our neighborhoods. Everyone deserves access to healthy food. Learn more about the importance of food access and find out how you can get involved. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn! RECENT NEWS Meet Our Farm to School Champions Mark Edwards Named President and CEO of The Food Trust "Access to a large grocery store is nearly as important to residents' health as annual doctor visits." --U.S. News Healthiest Communities FOLLOW US © 2012 The Food Trust. Read our privacy policy CONTACT US Phone:215-575-0444 Fax:215-575-0466 E-mail:contact@thefoodtrust.org Address:The Food Trust One Penn Center Suite 900 1617 John F. Kennedy Blvd. Philadelphia, PA 19103 SUPPORT THE FOOD TRUST Donate Now! SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTERS Subscribe