Building a Healthier Food Assistance System

One year ago, +BOX was awarded funding from the US Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service Local Food Promotion Program for our +BOX Connect feasibility study.

+BOX Connect is mobile web application that integrates with existing school technologies to empower food insecure families to privately opt-in to food assistance programs with no questions asked. It's designed to connect participating families to available nutrition resources, including those provided by +BOX, while increasing access to locally grown produce (read more about the project here).

As part of our feasibility study, we surveyed +BOX families to better understand the barriers that food insecure families face when seeking food assistance, their preferences for engaging and participating in food assistance programs, and their likelihood of using a tool like +BOX Connect to access food assistance.

The results are below. Our biggest takeaway: most families who experience food insecurity are (1) unaware of the food programs that are available to them, and/or (2) unsure if they are even eligible to access them, preventing many from getting the support they need. That's why we believe the +BOX Connect model to opt-in instead of seek-out food resources will revolutionize accessibility for food insecure families.

Download a copy of the report below:

+BOX Connect Feasibility Study_Program Participant Survey Results_Final

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