(INDIANAPOLIS) – One thousand Indianapolis families will receive food boxes this fall, for a second straight year.
A $600,000 grant from the Partnership for a Healthier America will allow the “Good Food for All” program to run for 17 weeks instead of 12. The program seeks to get fruits and vegetables to families without easy access to healthy food.
Partnership senior vice president Paula Reichel says the first year of the project validated one of the group’s central ideas: getting people access to healthier food can nudge them to choose healthier diets for themselves. And Milele Kennedy, director of the city’s community nutrition division, says a review of that first year included the program is reaching its intended target of minority communities and Indy’s poorest residents. Kennedy says nearly three out of four of last year’s participants were below the poverty line.
The program uses community and neighborhood groups to identify families in need. Reichel says this year’s program will start with holdovers from last year, then turn to those groups again to fill any remaining slots.
The group plans to begin food distribution in September.
