USDA invests nearly $8M for healthy eating incentives

The USDA has announced the availability of nearly $8 million to support the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program, or GusNIP, Produce Prescription Program. 

The funding is part of USDA’s American Rescue Plan efforts and will be administered by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, according to a news release.

GusNIP projects provide financial and nonfinancial incentives to income-eligible individuals and families to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables.

“USDA continues to make strides in transforming our nation’s food system,” Undersecretary for Research, Education and Economics and USDA Chief Scientist Chavonda Jacobs-Young said in the release. “Through this investment, USDA is making more nutritious food available to more people at more affordable prices. The GusNIP Produce Prescription program demonstrates the invaluable impact that access to fresh fruits and vegetables has on communities in need.”

The awards announced will fund GusNIP Produce Prescription meritorious applications from fiscal year 2021 that were highly ranked but could not be funded at the time because of budget constraints, according to the release. Seventeen projects are being funded, including the following:

• Common Pantry’s Food MD Program (New York, N.Y.), in collaboration with clinical partners, will screen and identify qualifying patients for a three-month Nutrition Education and Food Resource intensive training, building healthy dietary behaviors and increasing household food security for patients diagnosed with or at risk of developing diet-related chronic disease;
• The Appalachian Farmacy Produce Prescription Program (Johnson City, Tenn.) will provide 360 participating households with at least $240 in direct incentives per year to purchase fresh produce from local farmers markets and grocery stores;
• The Friends in Service to Community Food Bank (Kittitas County, Wash.) will improve health outcomes, reduce health care use and costs, improve nutrition self-efficacy, and sustain subsidized community-supported agriculture shares of Medicaid patients with diet-related health conditions; and
• University Healthcare Physicians Inc., (Martinsburg, W.Va.) will employ a mobile teaching kitchen/distribution unit that expands access to healthy food and culturally appropriate cooking and nutrition education across clinical sites in the eastern panhandle of the state.