Our Programs
Our programs offer innovative and custom solutions to combat nutrition insecurity based on someone’s unique needs.
Our program concepts are designed to raise and re-invest private funding to demonstrate what might happen if public funding was used more effectively.
In communities that struggle with low-income and nutrition insecurity from Appalachia, to South LA, to Rural Maine, to the West Side of Chicago, to the Navajo Nation, poverty and nutrition insecurity are the only things they have in common. How poverty and nutrition insecurity look and feel is very different from community to community.
Wholesome Wave does not believe in setting up shop in the place someone else calls home to bring “our solutions” to “their problems.” That’s why we rely on talented Community-Based Organizations that are dedicated to solving the nutrition insecurity suffered by low-income community members in the places they both call home.
Produce Prescription Program
Traditional medical insurance covers the cost of drugs but not healthy foods. This is a major challenge for the person who has a diet-related illness but does not have the means to purchase healthy foods.
Produce Prescriptions enable healthcare providers to prescribe the fruits and vegetables needed to complete someone’s diet, helping them to prevent or manage diet-related diseases.
Wholesome Wave Produce Prescriptions have had significant impacts on people’s health, which is why leading voices like Fast Company deem our produce prescription program a ‘World Changing Idea’.
How it works.
Produce Prescriptions combine healthcare with nutrition education and produce incentives to give people the power to make smart food choices.
A Just Program Benefits All
A recent study from Tufts University shows that prescriptions for healthy foods could help lower healthcare costs from diet-related disease in Medicare and Medicaid patients. Our mission to close the nutrition gap with affordable fruits and vegetables is proven to help low-income families lead healthier lives.
Healthy Choice Initiatives
Our Healthy Choice Initiatives are coordinated at a local level for people just one paycheck away from crisis. We deploy funding resources and training to trusted community-based organizations in urban and rural communities to effectively combat nutrition insecurity.
These organizations add nutrition incentives to existing job training, nutrition education classes, recreational activities, and other community-based programs for a complete suite of services.
“Seeds of Hope works directly with hungry families struggling with food insecurity and malnutrition. This exciting partnership with Wholesome Wave allows us to do so much more to ensure those families are cared for. This program goes beyond just talking about how to feed people – it helps put healthy food in their pantries and refrigerators.
When it comes to addressing hunger, that’s a life-changing offering!”
–Tim Alderson, Executive Director, Seeds of Hope (Los Angeles)
SNAP Doubling
SNAP–Supplemental Nutrition Incentive Program (food stamps) is a critical, federally-funded safety net that reduces both poverty and food insecurity in America, helping over 50 Million Americans struggling with hunger.
How it works.
Our SNAP Doubling program doubles the value of SNAP dollars to make fruits and vegetables affordable. For example, when a person spends $10 in SNAP, she receives an additional $10 to spend only on fruits and vegetables.