Grocery Store Gift Cards Help Families Eat Nutritious Food 

Healthy, nutritious food can be expensive while food loaded with salt, fat  and sugar are cheap to produce and cost less.  A can of spaghetti costs around a dollar, while salmon costs  $11.00 a pound — on sale. For many people, especially those living with chronic illness such as hypertension and diabetes,  poor quality food can literally be a killer. 

When CHHOP received an $87,000 grant from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation in July 2020, part of the money was used to provide 27 families, whose average income was $14,000 annually,  with grocery store gift cards for ten consecutive weeks. Gift card amounts ranged from $50 to $150 per week depending on household size. The average family size was three, but ranged from one to six

The cards were given to seventeen randomly selected Fred’s Pantry clients and another ten households were chosen by Hudson River Health Care (now Sun River)  practitioners based on clients’ diagnoses of high blood pressure. Gift cards were specifically given out to purchase healthy foods that meet individual dietary needs, but were not allowed to be used for items such as soda, beer, candy or tobacco. 

Participants, who ranged in age from 30 to 83, were asked to fill out a survey at the beginning and end of the program which ran between August and December 2020. The assessments tracked the daily eating habits of the participants to determine if and how their view of food insecurity changed throughout the duration of the program. 

Most of the program participants reported eating healthier snacks and worried less about having enough to eat while they were in the program. By the end of the program about half of the participants reported feeling that they were in excellent health, up from one participant reporting excellent health at the beginning of the program.  One of the recipients of the grocery gift card noted that it helped him buy food he would not normally be able to get: “I found it (grocery gift card) very useful to supplement what I could not get at the pantry. Fresh fish and produce, bread and yogurt which is good for nutrition. In the past I have had troubles with bread that has mold on it. This program has been a great help to get what we normally cannot receive. Thank you.” 

Eating healthier, more nutritious foods is key to helping people maintain good health, something that is especially crucial right now as the Covid-19 pandemic continues its rampage.

Throughout this year, Fred’s Pantry x CHHOP will not only get food to those in need, but will make every effort to ensure that clients have access to healthy, nutritious and culturally appropriate food that supports good health.