Empowering consumers to make healthier choices for themselves and their families
It’s no secret that affordable, quality fresh fruits and vegetables are powerful foods, essential to well-balanced eating habits.
The problem is, nearly 30 million Americans don’t have access to them.* It’s a crisis affecting nearly one in 10 people across the country – a problem that 60 percent of Americans don’t actually believe exists in their own community.**
Wholesome Wave is a national nonprofit founded by James Beard Award-winning chef, Michel Nischan, dedicated to making healthy food available to low-income families. From years of experience empowering under-served consumers to make better choices for themselves and their families, Wholesome Wave knows first-hand that if people can’t afford produce, they can’t buy it. But when they can, they do.
It’s called produce-purchasing power, and it’s so important for several reasons. When Americans consume more fruits and vegetables, their diets change for the better and positive outcomes follow for public health, local economies and the environment.
Unlocking produce-purchasing power.
44 million Americans spend $67 billion in food stamps each year, plus $60 billion of their own money in groceries. With help from its partners, Wholesome Wave is committed to turning this opportunity into produce-purchasing power and helping make nutritious food available to everyone.
Over the years, Naked – a leader in fruit and veggie nutrition and innovation – has donated more than three million dollars to Wholesome Wave through the Drink Good Do Good program, reaching 300,000 under-served Americans each year, primarily through the Wholesome Wave SNAP Doubling Program. Historically, the Wholesome Wave SNAP Doubling Program matched the value of SNAP benefits when spent on produce at participating farmers markets and other partners.
This year, Wholesome Wave and Naked are extending programming from farmers markets into the grocery aisles with the Wholesome Wave Rewards Card. Participants receive preloaded cards, which can be used to buy fresh produce at participating supermarkets – a fast, smart and efficient way to empower even more low-income families to make healthier choices.
Incentive programs, like the Wholesome Wave Rewards Card, can have a tremendous impact as they put produce-purchasing power directly into the hands of consumers who need it most.
What can retail RDs do to help?
Join Naked in providing access to fresh produce and shedding light on the issue at-hand in their annual Drink Good Do Good campaign! This year, musician and activist John Legend and ballerina, author and icon Misty Copeland have joined the campaign and are asking consumers to do The Shopping Cart dance, everyone’s favorite old-school dance move. Promote the campaign by sharing your Shopping Cart dance on social media with #FillYourCartForGood by Nov. 4, and encourage shoppers to do the same, and Naked will donate the monetary equivalent of a cart of produce to communities in need. Learn more here.
* Source: https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/45032/33845_err143.pdf?v=41505
** Source: A Naked survey was conducted by Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com) among 1,000 nationally representative U.S. adults ages 18+, and an additional 500 adults ages 18+ in each of eight DMAs: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, Washington, D.C., Seattle-Tacoma, San Diego and Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, between July 7th and July 18th, 2016, using an email invitation and an online survey. The margin of error for results at the overall level is +/- 3.1%.The margin of error for results at the DMA level is 4.4%.
† No purchase necessary. For each static or animated Shopping Cart dance with #FillYourCartForGood, Naked will donate the monetary equivalent of one cart of fruits and veggies, valued at $100, from September 24, 2018 to November 4, 2018 to Wholesome Wave. Maximum donation: $500,000. Please see full details available at www.drinkgooddogood.com.
