Report: National Nutrition Incentive Program Assists 190 Organizations in Improving Community Nutrition, Health Outcomes

OMAHA, NE / ACCESSWIRE / June 17, 2021 / The Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition, a nonprofit, impartial analysis heart, has launched a report outlining the outcomes from the primary yr of the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP). The program helps vitamin incentive and produce prescription initiatives nationwide to lower meals insecurity, enhance the acquisition and consumption of vegetables and fruit, enhance well being outcomes and reduce related well being care use and prices.

Program analysis outcomes and the report have been compiled by the Nutrition Incentive Program Training, Technical Assistance, Evaluation and Information Center (GusNIP NTAE Center), led by the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition.

In 2019, the inaugural yr of GusNIP funding, 22 initiatives throughout 19 states, together with two on tribal land, have been funded. Funding went to 13 vitamin incentive initiatives and 9 produce prescription initiatives that intention to extend fruit and vegetable purchases and consumption to positively affect the well being standing of taking part households. The grants ranged from one-year pilot initiatives of as much as $100,000 to multi-year, large-scale initiatives of greater than $500,000.

The report findings, from Sept. 1, 2019 to Aug. 31, 2020, detailed the assist supplied to GusNIP-funded initiatives and the ensuing impacts. Key findings included:

  • The whole financial affect of the 2019 GusNIP initiatives is estimated to quantity to greater than $7.9 million, nearly double that of the variety of incentives issued. In addition to their native financial affect, these applications usually obtain bipartisan assist for his or her capability to assist low-income shoppers enhance the acquisition of vegetables and fruit, whereas additionally supporting farmers and producers.
  • 68.5% of GusNIP funds have been used straight for incentives, and almost 90% of incentives issued have been redeemed. Exacerbated by the pandemic, at a time when wholesome, reasonably priced meals is required extra urgently than ever, these applications not solely work to alleviate meals insecurity, but additionally enhance vitamin safety.
  • GusNIP grantees and their companions raced to satisfy the pandemic-induced surges in demand for reasonably priced, wholesome meals. The pandemic overwhelmed many grocery and farm-direct retailers with elevated demand, whereas concurrently impacting the livelihood of farmers and operations of farmers markets. In response to this financial and well being disaster, grantees labored to make sure their incentive initiatives may assist meet the surging wants of their communities.

“It’s unimaginable to witness the resilience of the GusNIP-funded organizations, and the way onerous they labored to adapt and convey extra vegetables and fruit to folks throughout a time that the necessity was better than ever,” stated GusNIP NTAE Center Project Director and Gretchen Swanson Center Executive Director Dr. Amy Yaroch.

The Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition partnered with Fair Food Network, a nationwide nonprofit with a mission to develop neighborhood well being and wealth via meals, to create the Nutrition Incentive Hub. The Nutrition Incentive Hub is a coalition of companions devoted to constructing the capability of grantees and potential grantees via technical help and innovation.

“Our Nutrition Incentive Hub companions are excellent. Together, we offered 600 hours of technical help to 190 practitioners,” stated Project Lead of Technical Assistance on the GusNIP NTAE Center’s Nutrition Incentive Hub and Fair Food Network Senior Director of Programs Holly Parker. “The experience within the areas of program analysis, outcomes-based reporting, farm-direct and grocery retail, point-of-sale know-how, native sourcing, vitamin schooling and extra helps grantees to hit the bottom operating and effectively obtain program objectives.”

GusNIP is funded via the 2018 Farm Bill with grants allotted to organizations via the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).

“Good well being is commonly decided by the meals on our plates,” stated NIFA Director Dr. Carrie Castille. “By bringing collectively stakeholders from throughout meals and healthcare methods, GusNIP grants assist us enhance and promote better understanding of this very important connection and to guide us to raised well being and vitamin for these we serve.”

“GusNIP holds promise for rising meals safety alongside fruit and vegetable consumption to enhance well being outcomes of individuals throughout the nation. We stay up for working with our grantees and selling their progress on an upward trajectory of outcomes and affect within the subsequent yr,” stated NTAE Center Associate Project Director for Reporting and Evaluation and Gretchen Swanson Center Principal Research Scientist Dr. Carmen Byker Shanks.

For the complete report and an inventory of 2019-2020 grantees, go to https://www.nutritionincentivehub.org/s/GusNIP-NTAE-Impact-Findings_Year-1.pdf

About the Nutrition Incentive Program Training, Technical Assistance, Evaluation and Information Center (GusNIP NTAE Center) and Nutrition Incentive Hub

The GusNIP NTAE Center is led by the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition, a nonprofit analysis group with experience within the measurement and analysis of nutrition-related applications. In partnership with Fair Food Network, they assembled the Nutrition Incentive Hub, a coalition of companions that helps vitamin incentive and produce prescription initiatives. Partners embrace practitioners, grocery and farmers market specialists, researchers and evaluators from throughout the nation devoted to strengthening and uniting the most effective pondering within the area to extend entry to reasonably priced, wholesome meals to those that want it most.

The GusNIP NTAE Center is funded via a cooperative settlement and is supported by Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program grant no. 2019-70030-30415/undertaking accession no. 1020863 from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. For extra details about the Nutrition Incentive Hub, please go to www.nutritionincentivehub.org.

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Media Contact:

Amy M. Koné
Associate Project Director for Partnerships,
Technology, and Communication
GusNIP NTAE Center
[email protected]

SOURCE: Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition

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