Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** thirty-sixpercent of washington, DC…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** thirty-sixpercent of washington, DC residents are food insecure. The percentage of DC residents participating in the supplemental nutrition assistance program (snap) (22%) is nearly twice the national average (12%). Elevenpercent of DC's total area is classified as a 'food desert' - an area where people have limited access to healthy food.due to the prominence of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension among DC's leading causes of death, there is now a 21-year difference in life expectancy between DC's wealthiest neighborhoods in ward 3 and the most underserved corners of ward 8, just ten miles away.DC central kitchen (dcck)'s healthy corners program has shown that investments in stores' capacity to stock and sell healthy food alongside innovative produce incentive programming can increase purchases of fruits and vegetables among snap participants and improve the healthy food environment.first launched in 2011 as a mission-driven, last-mile food hub supporting healthier corner stores, healthy corners equips small retailers that otherwise might struggle to offer produce with necessary infrastructure, refrigeration, and shelving before providing seamless inventory support to these retailers as they orderfruits and vegetables sourced through area wholesalers and local food hubs that dcck aggregates and delivers. Retailers then sell these produce items at affordable retail rates according to dcck pricing guidelines. Our incentives adhere to aproduce-for-produce model, by which shoppers who include any one (1) fresh or frozen gusnip qualifying fruit or vegetable within a $5 or greater snap purchase will trigger a $5 incentive coupon, redeemable for up to $5 worth of fresh or frozen gusnip qualifying fruits and/or vegetables.dcck also hires graduates of its culinary job trainingprogram for previously unemployed adultsto prepare and distribute healthy corners products andconduct healthy cooking lessons featuring local produce at partner retailers. Our projectprovides a pathway for previously unemployed snap customers to eat healthfully in their own communities, access industry-driven job training, and launch careers, all while expanding produce sales opportunities for local growers. In SUM, this large scale projectseeks to increasethe number of participating retailers by 30%, expandthe program to new neighborhoods with different demographics and clear food access challenges, and implementinnovative new protocols that will sustain and accelerate recent gains in locally grownproduce sales to snap customers in DC.